Callan Oshiro and the Family Secret
by AWakeingDream
Summary: My parents died when I was little, and I've been living in Rutledge Home for Girls ever since. I thought I would be stuck there until I turned eighteen and would be kicked out. But then, a familiar looking woman with purple hair steps straight from my parents past and my mother's manga and right into my life, sweeping me up into a dream world of magic.
1. Prolog

_They're coming for me._

I run as fast as I can, my sock covered feet almost sliding across the smooth marble surface of the floor in his part of the castle. My eyes burn with tears, my heart pounds with fear, my lungs burn from oxygen deprivation and my legs feel like jelly from running so much. I don't think I've ever, in my entire life, run this much.

But I can't stop. They're right behind me, and if I stop, they'll catch me, and that'll be the end of everything.

The air around me feels ice cold. I can see my breath. I can feel the dread coming off the creatures chasing after me – the sorrow, the despair. It hurts. It's all so powerful, so potent, that I can feel it in the air like thick smoke. I can feel it crushing down on me, slowing me down. It makes me want to stop, to give up and just let them take me. But my body's refusing to listen to my mind, and it keeps running on it's own.

I duck behind a statue and open up the secret passage, disappearing inside it. The door slams shut behind me, so I finally take the time to pause, turning around to face the door as I slowly back away from it. I can still see my breath, but not as much as I could before. The door seems to be blocking out everything those creatures make me feel. But somehow I just know it won't last long. They'll find me, even in here. So I turn around and run down the corridor as fast as I can make my legs carry me.

I burst through the door on the other end, letting it slam shut behind me as I stumble and fall to my hands and knees on the floor, my wand skittering out of my grip and across the corridor.

"What's that?" someone down the corridor whispers. I burst forward, snatching my wand up, and pressing myself against the wall behind a tapestry on the other side, curling my hand over the tip of my wand to smother the light.

"What?" another voice asks.

"I just saw something," the first voice says.

"There's nothing there. Come on."

I wait until the two people's footsteps fade away before lowering my hand from my wand and let out the breath I was holding. My heart almost stops when I notice that I can see my breath quite clearly. The tapestry hiding me is ripped to the side.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: My First Letter**

While the other girls are playing their games and running around and talking with each other in the yard of Rutledge Orphanage, I sit under a tree, slightly away from them all, with a manga open in my lap. I can't seem to focus on reading today, though, as I stare unseeingly across the yard, towards the building and through it. I don't see any of it. I don't want to see any of it.

This is how I've spent most of my days since first arriving at Rutledge Orphanage, five years ago. I remember that day, even though I don't remember anything before it. I don't remember my parents. I don't remember how they died. I don't remember when exactly they died. I don't remember any family or friends I might have had before my parents died. I don't remember anything before sitting on my bed, in between the beds of two other girls, on the second floor of this large, grey brick building. What I know about the time that exsisted before that day, I know only from what I've been told.

My parents are dead. I have no other family – or at least, if I did, it was none that was willing to take me in. My birthday was December 21. I was six years old when I arrived at Rutledge Orphanage, five years ago. My name is Callan Oshiro.

And that's it. That's all I know.

I sigh, turning my unseeing gaze down to my manga. I don't think I miss my parents. How can I miss something that I've never even known? But I do wish that I had a real family. I've seen families outside the orpahange. A couple with a little kid in between them; a mother pushing a stroller; a father playing catch with his son. I seem to be the only one in the orphanage who wants, more than anything, to leave. To be adopted by someone good and kind. Someone who will love me as their own. I don't think anyone should have to grow up in a place as cold and knowingly temporary as an orphanage. But all the other girls here don't seem to care. They're normal. They have friends, they like to play. I'm not like them.

"Miss Oshiro."

I quickly look up, surprised at the sound of my last name. One of the sisters who runs Rutledge is suddenly standing before me. It's odd to see them so far outside. If they come outside at all, it's just to do a head count and make sure everyone is still within the fenced in confined of the yard. The only time they actually walk outside is when we everyone's walking down the street to church on Sundays. I hate Sundays.

Now, though, Sister Mary Anne is standing in front of me and is holding out a letter to me. "This came for you this morning," she tells me. "I apologize, I forgot to give it to you after this morning's lesson."

I don't say anything, too surprised and confused for any words to come to mind, as I slowly reach up to take the letter. She waits for a moment, but then I think she understands that my mind's too blank with shock to remember my manners, so she simply smiles and returns to the building as I blink stupidly at the letter in my hand. I've never gotten a letter before.

It's not very common to get letters here. Only one girl gets letters; Elizabeth, who actually _has_ family that loves her. But they can barely afford to take care of themselves, much less an extra child. They send her letters every once in a while. The last letter she got said that they have to move to London for the husband's job, so then she'll get to see them and visit with them even if they still won't be able to take her out of the orphanage.

I'm jealous of her too.

But now, for the first time that I can remember, I have a letter of my own. I turn it over to see a wax seal with a distantly familiar crest stamped into it. I look around at the other girls, all of them seeming oblivious to me, wondering if this is some sort of a joke. The sisters told me years ago that I _have_ no other family. Anyone who may have been left to take care of me after my parents died must have either died themselves or not wanted to claim me.

I look back down at the letter and break open the wax seal with my thumb nail, opening the enveleope. Inside are two piece of strange, thick paper. The kind I've never seen before. Curious, I take them out and unfold the papers to read the first page.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL _of_ WITCHCRAFT _and_ WIZARDRY

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore

( _Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc. Chf. Warlock_

Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

Dear Miss Oshiro,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

I stop myself before turning to the second page, my eyes widening as I remember how familiar this all looks. Not just the crest, but the entire letter too. I slowly pick the discarded envelope off my manga and lift it and the papers in my other hand up so that I can look at the pages.

My mom was a manga writer and artist. No one told me this, I figured it out myself, when I noticed that the author of one of my manga had my last name, when I was eight years old. It's a series, but I only have the first volume. And that's the one I've brought down and outside to read while all the other girls play.

I look down, at the front cover, and see that in the background of the cover image is the same crest that was on the wax seal of the envelope.

And on that crest, "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

I glance back and forth between the broken wax seal, the heading of the first letter, and the cover of my mom's manga, trying to figure it out. This…it can't be possible.

I look up at all the other girls, wandering and playing in the yard. Is this some sort of joke? It has to be. It's too strange. But who could have pulled such a joke off? Nobody else reads my manga. I've never told anyone about the dreams I have at night, of witches and wizards and magic.

I set the envelope back on top of my manga, in my lap, and put the first piece of paper behind the second so that I could read the second sheet.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL _of_ WITCHCRAFT _and_ WIZARDRY

UNIFORM

First year students will require:

Three sets of plain work robes (black)

One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear

One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)

One winter cloak (black, with silver fastenings)

Please note that all pupil's clothes should carry name tags.

COURSE BOOKS

All students should have a copy of each of the following:

The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1)

 _By Miranda Goshawk_

A History of Magic

 _By Bathilda Bagshot_

Magical Theory

 _By Adalbert Waffling_

A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration

 _By Emeric Switch_

One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi

 _By Phyllida Spore_

Magical Drafts and Potions

 _By Arsenius Jigger_

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

 _By Newt Scamander_

The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection

 _By Quentin Trimble_

OTHER EQUIPMENT

1 wand

1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)

1 set glass or crystal phials

1 telescope

1 set brass scales

Students may also bring, if they desire, an owl or a cat or a toad

PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS

ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICK

Your sincerely,

Lucinda Thomsonicle-Pocus

Chief Attendant of Witchcraft Provisions

I shake my head decidedly. It has to be a joke. Some strange, elaborate hoax. As Sister Janice calls us all in for supper, I put the letter and its envelope in between two random pages of my manga, stand up, and hurry inside with the others. That night, I drop that manga into the trunk that sits at the foot of my bed, the letter still inside of it. The next morning, I start a new manga – one of my favorites that I have practically memorized – and I soon forget about the letter.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: My New Dream**

I don't think about the letter again until weeks later, and only then because something else happens. It's not until then that I realize that it's not a joke at all. It's not some clever trick thought up and performed by one of the many girls in this orphanage who don't like me and who think I'm a freak. It's not then until I start think that what I've known is not all there is.

After getting dressed in the morning, all of the girls in Rutledge Orphanage make their way down the stairs, towards the room where our daily lessons take place. As we all come down the stairs one day, weeks after I received and forgot about the letter, I notice Sister Helena standing in the entry way with another woman.

This alone draws almost everyone's attention. The orphanage rarely has visitors, so the fact that there is one to begin with is unusual enough. What makes the woman even more unusual is her purple hair and her odd clothes.

None of this is the reason I am the only one to stop walking once I reach the landing and see the girl. I stop, the other girls continuing on around me, because the woman looks distinctly familiar. I'm certain I've never met her before, but still I know I've seen her before. After a minute, I realize why: I've seen her in the manga my mom created.

I don't follow the other girls, as they continue on around and past me, down the stairs, then down the hall and to the lessons room, a few of them giving polite greetings to Sister Helena and the purple haired woman as they passed. But I stay behind, standing on the landing, staring with wide eyes at the woman with the purple hair, as I think back to that manga, sitting upstairs in the trunk at the foot of my bed.

"Ah, Callan," Sister Helena smiles once she sees that I've fallen behind the other girls. They're all gone now into the lessons room, the door closed behind them as Sister Jessica begins the lessons. I can feel Sister Helena's gaze on me, but I can't bring myself to look away from the woman, who suddenly is so familiar to me that it's impossible for me to try to pretend it's all a mistake or joke anymore.

"Good morning," Sister Helena says to me. "I hope you slept well. I have excellent news." She clasps her hands together excitedly, genuinely happy. "Your godmother is here to take you home."

Is that what she is? My godmother? Is that why she's drawn in my mom's manga? No…as I think more and more about the manga, I don't know if it's true that she's my godmother or not, but I do know that she and my parents were friends. I know that they met at the London train station, because my mom and dad were both being chased by those awful creatures from my dreams.

She looks different now though. Older. And yet…I still feel like I've seen this older version of her somehow too, even though in the manga, she was just a teenager.

"She probably doesn't remember me," the woman with the purple hair speaks up after a brief silence during which I haven't moved or stopped staring at her. Sister Helena doesn't seem to notice my obsessive and confused staring. Or if she does, she's not bothering to bother with it. "I haven't seen you since you were a baby," the purple haired woman smiles at me.

Another minute of silence passes before Sister Helena says, "Well, I'll leave you two to catch up and get Callan packed then." She pauses, smiling as she looks between me and the woman. "I'm so happy for you, Callan. Enjoy your new home.

Part of me wonders if maybe she's not just happy to be rid of me, as she turns and goes down the hall and towards the kitchen. I watch the purple haired woman watch Sister Helena go, even leaning forward and craning her neck so that she can see down the hall, until the kitchen door closes firmly behind Sister Helena. Then the woman, her hands in the pockets of her strange, long black coat, groans in relief as she leans back slightly and briefly, before straightening back up again.

"I thought she'd never leave. I can't believe I ever agreed to do this. I don't even remember the last time I talked to a muggle," the woman says, and I suddenly remember that her name is Tonks, according to my mom's manga. I also recognize the word "muggle," meaning someone with no magic.

"I'm Tonks, by the way," the woman tells me, confirming my memory. "Go get your stuff. We're already running late as it is. We have a lot of shopping to do and we have to get it all done today. Because tomorrow, you're off to school."

To school. The words register slowly in my mind, and connect even more slowly to the letter. To school. To _Hogwarts_.

Even after the dots have been connected, I just stand there and blink stupidly at her, unable to believe all this. It just wouldn't compute in my mind. But at the same time, I can't completely deny any bit of what's happening. Because I've read it all in the manga my mom made herself, without another artist, writer or even publisher. Within those pages, I've seen the letter and I've seen Tonks and I've seen the Hogwarts Crest. As unbelievable as it was, as impossible as it should have been that I was seemingly about to be pulled right into one of my manga, it wasn't impossible or unbelievable enough that I could deny it, because I already had proof of it all.

But maybe it's all a dream, I realize. Maybe I fell asleep reading that manga one night, as I have done often with many of my manga. Maybe I'm dreaming about the manga that I was reading when I fell asleep.

Suddenly, I turn and race up the stairs, and to the trunk at the foot of my bed. Maybe this is a dream. But even if it is, I'm going to see it through. I'm going to let it sweep me away. I'm not going to turn away from it just because it's all so strange or just because it might not be real at all. I'm going to dream the dream until I wake up.

I quickly pack up what little belongings I have into the old suitcase that has always been kept under my bed, just like the old suitcases resting underneath every girl's bed. I arrange my manga carefully, throw my second dress and my one night dress in on top of the manga, and then slam the top of the suitcase shut, throwing the clasps closed.

I grab the suitcase by the handle, standing up quickly, and turn towards the door. I stop though, realizing that something's been left on my bed. I turn back around, reaching out to grab it quickly, thinking it's just something that I dropped. But as I get a closer look at it, I stop, my hand only a couple inches from it, as I realize it's not one of my manga.

Confused, I set the suitcase down on its side and pick up the book sitting on my bed. I'm confused to see _me_ on the cover of it, the Hogwarts crest in the background. I look for the author's name, and there's my mother's name. And under it, in small letters, something written in a strange language that I've never seen before.

Frowning in confusion, I look back at my own image, drawn on the cover. My parents died when I was six years old, but this is a drawing of me as I am now, at ten years old. I'm wearing strange clothes that I've never seen before. It almost looks like a school uniform, except with a black robe thrown over it. My hair's up in one of the styles that I used to wear all the time when I Was little – before I came to the orphanage and I kept getting called a freak for my strange hair styles. And in my hand is a wand.

But the weirdest thing about this image, I think, is my expression. All I ever remember feeling in the time that I've been here at Rutledge Orphanage is sorrow and loneliness. But there's none of that in my expression on the cover of this manga. Instead, the image of myself stares back at me with a strange look that I can't quite identify.

Something about that image sets in my mind. I don't even open the book. I don't have to. I already know what I'm going to do next.

I drop to my knees beside my suitcase, tipping it so that the lies on the hardwood floor. I pop open the clasps again and throw open the lid. I don't put the new manga inside it right away, though. Instead, I find myself staring at the ribbons tucked into a corner of the suitcase. I stopped wearing ribbons in my hair years ago, when I stopped wearing my hair in such unusual styles. But I was never able to bring myself to throw the ribbons away.

Now with my gaze fixed intently on the ribbons, I slowly pull the hair bands out from the bottoms of each of my two long braids, and then slowly work my fingers through my hair, undoing the braids. Once they're undone and my long, impossibly pale hair hangs loosely over my shoulders, I arrange my hair into two buns near the top of my head, one at a time, weaving the ribbons in with the buns to hold each one together.

Once I'm done, I finally put the new manga into the suitcase, on top of the rest, and then close the suitcase again, snapping the clasps closed before standing up, picking up the suitcase, and heading back out of the room and down the stairs.

I stop on the landing again, holding my suitcase in front of me with both of my hands, as I look at Tonks. She had her back to me as I came down the first flight of stairs, but now she turns back around to look at me. The two of us just stand there for a minute, as I try to decide if I really want to ask the question that's on my mind or not.

In the end, I decide against it, as I step forward, down the second flight of stairs.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: My First Step Away From the Orphanage**

The two of us leave the orphanage and Tonks starts to cross the street once there are no cars coming, not bothering to find a crosswalk. I hesitate though, holding my suitcase handle with both hands in front of me, looking down, past it, and to the blacktop road just in front of me.

If I step off this sidewalk, I realize, I will no longer be living at Rutledge. I will be living in the dream world, at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As soon as I step off the sidewalk, I won't be just an orphan anymore. I'll be a witch.

I start to look back, over my shoulder, back at the orphanage, but Tonks speaks up and stops me.

"Don't look back," she says. She's already across the street and on the other sidewalk. Thankfully, there are no cars around. I don't look at her, but I stop myself from looking back at the orphanage. Instead, I find myself staring down at my shoulder. "It's bad luck," Tonks explains. "If you look back, you'll go back."

For some reason that I can't quite put words to, I believe her. In a way, it does make sense. Looking back to where you've been would be like tying yourself to that place. It's like promising that you'll come back, some day, no matter what. Maybe sometimes that's good. Sometimes there are places you want to see again, memories you want to do more than remember, that you want to relive someday.

But Rutledge Home for Girls is not one of those places, one of those memories. I'll probably never be able to forget all the lonely memories of my life in this orphanage. And maybe that's good, because we learn from our past and remembering even the bad memories means that I'll remember what I've learned from them.

But I never want to come back here. Ever. I don't know what's going to happen to me in the summer, when school's out. I don't know where I'll go. But, if by not looking back now, I can somehow increase my chance of never coming back, then I'm going to take advantage of that.

Takin a deep breath to steady myself, I turn my head. I don't look back. I only look forward, at Tonks, as I finally step off the curb and cross the street.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: My New Anxiety**

As the two of us walk silently down the street, I'm surprised to find that I have no questions. I should be questioning so much right now, shouldn't I? But I find myself strangely content, almost happy, to simply follow along and go with the flow. No matter how mysterious it may be.

After a while, long after the orphanage would be out of sight even if I did decide to look back, Tonks finally turns and enters a building. As I follow behind her, I look up at the sign over the door that identified the business as "The Leaky Cauldron." I'm not surprised I've never even heard or seen this place before. There's only one place in London I've ever been, besides the orphanage. Every Sunday, the sisters gather us all up and walk us all down to the church a few blocks down from the orphanage.

The inside of the Leaky Cauldron is dimly lit. There are table scattered all around the middle of the room and a counter with a man behind it and shelves filled with glass bottles behind him.

"Mornin' Tonks," the man behind the counter waves to Tonks.

"Good morning," she greets in return as she steps towards the counter. I follow hesitantly behind, afraid to be too close but afraid to be left behind at the same time.

"What are you doing here so early?" the man behind the counter asks.

"Shopping. But can we get a room first? It'd be easier if we could leave her suitcase somewhere," Tonks says, nodding down towards me. The older man peers over the counter at me and smiles. Despite his somewhat scary appearance at first glance, his smile is actually surprisingly kind. I still don't smile back though.

"Of course," the man tells Tonks as he straightens up and looks back at her. "We still have a couple rooms left. Here you go, last door on the left," he hands Tonks an old looking key.

"Thanks," she waves to him as she turns away from the counter and starts walking around it, towards the staircase behind the shelves, which I didn't even noticed was there until now. I follow her up the stairs and down the hall, to the last door on the left. She unlocks that door with the key the man behind the counter gave her and holds it open for me. "Just toss your suitcase on one of the beds. We'll stay here tonight.

I nod to Tonks, slipping past her and into the room. I set my suitcase on the closest bed, and then go back into the hallway. Tonks locks the door again and slips the key into an inside pocket of her coat as she leads me back down the stairs. We don't go into the main room of the building this time, though. We go through a door marked, "employees only" and cut through a storage room, going back out of it through a back door that opens up into a small area that's walled off on four sides.

I watch in both confusion and fascination as Tonks pulls her wand out of another inside pocket of her coat. It looks just like the one my mom drew in her hand in the manga. Tonks starts tapping the bricks on one of the closed in area's walls, and I understand quickly that it's a code of sorts. Almost like a password.

Once she's done, the bricks fold back in small waves, slowly revealing an entire other street on the other side. My eyes widen as I stand there gaping. We're still in London, we have to be, but the place beyond the wall looks like somewhere entirely different somehow. The fronts of the buildings look different from anything I've ever seen from the windows of the orphanage, or even as Tonks and I walked the streets on our way to the Leaky Cauldron. And milling all over the street are people strangely dressed, in robes of all sorts of colors and made from strange materials.

"Welcome to Diagon Alley," Tonks casts a smirk over her shoulder at me as she steps through the newly made opening and plunges into the street. After a few more seconds of shocked hesitation, I manage to follow after her.

I struggle to keep up with Tonks, my head swiveling in all directions as I try to take in everything at once. Between the so oddly dressed people, in their funny robes and pointed hats, and the oddities in almost all the shop windows, it seems like suddenly there is absolutely nothing familiar.

That realization makes the backs of my eyes prickle and sting with tears wanting to shed. I unconsciously stop walking. Despite how much I've always disliked the orphanage, now I find myself wanting to go back to it. Because at least there, everyone was familiar. They were horrible and I hated being around them sometimes, but they were the same people who I'd been around my entire life. I was used to them.

But all of the people around me now were strangers. I don't know their names, I've never seen their faces before today, and I don't know what they're going to do to me. They'll probably think I'm a freak, just like everyone else always has before. They'll make fun of me and call me names, just like everyone does.

I'm jolted forward slightly as two bodies slam into me; first, one into my right shoulder, and then the other into my left. The force of them running into me throws me off balance, sends me tumbling to the ground on my hands and knees. And I just stay there, curled in on myself on the cobblestone street, unwilling to get up and face everything around me. Maybe if I stay down here long enough, just close my eyes really tightly, I'll wake up from this nightmare.

 **PS This is the end of the initial dump, yes, but fear not! There will be more updates today! I am _far_ from done! Anyway, hope you guys are liking this version! It's not too different yet from the original, but fear not, it gets better! (I hope)**


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: My First Light**

I don't know how long I stay curled up on the ground, my hands over my ears, my eyes squeezed shut as I try to block out the world, until I feel someone touch me. Automatically, I throw myself backwards, away from the touch, screaming. My eyes fly open just in time to see a burst of bright light so blinding that I immediately have to squeeze my eyes closed again.

The light disappears as suddenly and quickly as it had appeared. I cautiously open one eye, then both eyes, as I slowly look around myself. Suddenly there's a circle several feet in diameter around me, where people have cleared away. Except they all look like they were forced away, blown back by some sort of wind, as many of them are sprawled out on the ground.

Did the light do that?

I blink, looking around, distantly realizing that my entire body is shaking and tears are spilling from my eyes. Everyone around me is looking at me with expressions of surprise and confusion. Many with expressions including fear.

"Callan?" I hear Tonks voice behind me.

Two voices yell, almost cutting Tonks off short, "No!" "Don't-!"

I feel a hand on my shoulder again, and even though I know who it is this time, I can't stop myself from panicking, screaming again as I throw myself away from the touch, stumbling and scraping my hands and knees when I try to scramble to my feet.

"I don't think she likes being touched," one of the two voices sighs. I glance over to see two boys, twins with freckles and red hair, just getting to their feet. As almost everyone else is hurrying to their feet and hurrying _away_ from us, the twins come towards us.

"Guess not," Tonks agrees, dropping her hand to her side.

"Oh, good, you found her," another woman approaches. She's shorter by Tonks by several inches, and fatter, and has red hair just like the twins, except frizzier. "What happened?" She asks as she looks around, noticing how people are being sure to do their best to keep their distance, in the crowded street.

I think I'm the only one that notices the twins exchange odd looks while Tonks just shrugs, "Not sure. Don't think she likes being touched though." After a short pause, Tonks looks at the woman, then the twins, then around, then back at the woman. "Is everyone else still searching?"

The red haired woman's eyes widen and she looks at the twins, "Go find everyone else and tell them we found her."

"Why us?!" both of the boys ask, looking at her.

"Because you're young, you have more energy than I do, and we still have the shopping to do," the woman says sharply. One of the twins opens their mouths to say something else, but the other one glances at me and nudges him. The twins both glance at me before relenting and leaving, to find whoever they're supposed to find.

By the time they're leaving, I've gotten to my feet, and people are steadily getting closer and closer as they mill around and go about their business, the incident quickly being forgotten.

"All that stress made me hungry," Tonks comments, glancing over to me, probably make sure I haven't fallen behind again. "Care to join us for ice cream, Molly?"

Molly smiles, "I'd love to. I'm sure the boys won't have much trouble finding us there."

"Come on, Callan. Stay close this time," Tonks says to me as the two begin walking. I hurry after them, not wanting to be left alone again, but keep some distance between myself and them.

I follow them through the streets and then into an ice cream shop.

"You want ice cream, Callan?" Tonks asks me as the three of us step up to the counter. I nod. "Chocolate?" I nod again, because I've never had ice cream before, so I don't know what I like.

"Us too, please!"

I look over my shoulder to see the twins are back, and out of breath.

"That was fast," Tonks comments.

"Did you find everybody?" Molly asks as the five of us make our way over to a table after getting our ice cream, with me trailing behind the others.

"We found Charlie and Percy," one of the twins says. "They said they'll find Dad, Ron and Ginny. They'll meet us here."

"Oh, Callan, these are two of my sons," Molly says as the others sit down at a table near the center of the room. "Fred and George." I look between the two, trying to figure out which is which, but give up after a minute. They both look exactly alike.

Only a few minutes later, more people enter the ice cream shop, and all of them have red hair like Fred and George and their mom. Unfortunately, after they all get their ice cream, they make their way over to our table.

"Come on," one of the twins says as they both stand up. "Let's go outside." It takes me a second before I realize that they're waiting for me. Hesitantly, I get up and follow them both outside.

In this part of wherever we are, it's not nearly as crowded as where I got separated from Tonks. Fred and George sit on a bench just outside the ice cream shop and immediately start talking to each other. I stand to the side, with my cup of ice cream, listening to them as they talk to each other, turning to me sometimes to tell me stuff that they've done or something about someone in their family.

I don't sit down with them, or even on the other bench on the other side of the door, because it's too far away from them. But after a little while, my vision starts to darken and I feel really weird, so I do sit down on the sidewalk, hoping the feeling passes soon.


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: My New School Supplies**

"Careful now," one of the twins says. I blink, glancing at him, then around, realizing that I have no idea where I am. Or even how I got here.

"Wouldn't want you to get lost," the other twin says oblivious to my cluelessness. I look between them, and then up ahead, where the twins' mom and Tonks have left us slightly behind. We're not near the ice cream shop anymore, but instead it seems like we're back in the more populated part of wherever we are.

I blink a few times, the backs of my eyes stinging with tears that I refuse to shed. I don't remember leaving the ice cream shop. I don't remember anything past when Fred, George and I went outside. That's never happened to me before.

"Were you raised by muggles?" one of the twins asks.

"George!" their mom snaps. She and Tonks have stopped and come back to us. "That was terribly rude. I'm sorry about him, dear," she apologizes to me.

"It's not rude!" George protests.

"It was just a question," Fred defends his brother.

"Hush now. Don't ask such things," their mom scolds.

"She grew up in a muggle orphanage," Tonks tells them suddenly, with a tone of finality. She's the first to turn and walk into a nearby shop, with the twins' mom right behind her, clearly ending the conversation. I look around and realize for the first time that the rest of their family seems to be gone. Fred and George exchanged puzzled glances, but just shrug. One of them – I can't tell which – steps forward first to open the door, then holds it open, gesturing for me to go first.

"Thank you, sir!" the other one hurries through with a dramatic curtsy before I can, making the twin holding the door laugh. I wait for him to go through, but he just gestures for me to go first again. I hesitate, thinking it's a trick at first, but slowly pass him and enter the shop. He lets me go, and then steps inside behind me and lets the door fall closed behind him.

As the five of us make our way up and down the street, in and out of several shops, I recognize several things that are already changing. Changing from the my life at the orphanage, and even changing from just my time with Tonks. While Tonks and I were walking the streets of London, on our way to the Leaky Cauldron, I struggled to keep up with her long and quick strides. Even now, on Diagon Alley, I keep falling behind. But this time, I don't hurry myself to keep up with the grown ups, because Fred and George stay back with me.

The five of us make our way in and out of all the necessary shops. We go to Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, where Tonks convinces Mrs. Weasley to try on a beautiful dress and I get my school robes and dragon hide gloves. I wonder if they're really made of dragon hide, then I wonder if dragons are really real. In a dream world like this, I supposed it wouldn't be all that surprising to find out that they are. But I don't ask.

After we leave Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, we go to Amanuensis Quills. I can't figure out how to pronounce the name of the shop, but inside are what must be hundreds of beautiful feathered quills. Some of them wrote in different colored inks all on their own, and some of them just wrote all by themselves. There are even some that took their users words and twisted them all around to make impossible riddles or funny sayings – Fred and George spent the entire time in the shop playing with those quills.

"I think that's most of it," Tonks says after we come out of the cauldron shop.

Mrs. Weasley pulls a piece of parchment out of her pocket and examines it. "All that's left are wands and books," she confirms.

"Why don't you three get the wands and meet us at Flourish and Blotts?" Tonks says to me and the twins.

"And _don't_ get into any trouble!" Mrs. Weasley says sharply.

"Yes, mum," the twins both say at the same time, both wearing smiles that seem way too innocent to be really convincing. The twins turn away and start walking, and I hesitantly turn around and follow them. I trail behind at first, but then they both look back and slow down, dropping back to walk on either side of me like they've done the majority of the shopping trip.

"You're going to get lost if you keep doing that," one of them says.

"We're not going to be able to have any fun with her around," the other twin complains with a sigh.

"I think that's why mum let us go," the first one smiles. "Come on," he pulls open a door to one of the shops.

"Ollivander!" the twins call out at the same time, since nobody's minding the counter. I jump as the ladder slides out from an unseen spot and slams to a spot at the end of one of the book cases quite a bit to the right.

"Ah, young Weasleys," the old man smiles as he climbs down from the ladder. "Are you the last ones yet?"

"Nope!" the twins grin together.

"There's still Ron," one of them says.

"And Ginny," the other adds.

"But they're not for a few years," the first one says. I stare at them both, trying to figure out which is which. After a minute, though, I give up. It's hopeless. They're exactly alike. Even their _voices_ are the same.

"And who is this?" Ollivander asks, now behind the counter and leaning over it to look at me. My eyes widen and I can't help but shrink back a little bit.

"This is Callan Oshiro," one of the twins says.

"Oshiro?" he asks with a strange tone of surprise and recognition. I almost want to ask why, if he knows me or something, but I don't. After a minute of scrutinizingly staring at me, Ollivander draws away slightly, straightening up. "Well then, let's find you three wands."

The twins go first, one by one. After Ollivander has to ask which twin is which, it's easy for me to keep track and watch Fred receive a wand made of some sort of darkish wood that's fourteen inches long and has a handle that looks like a scrawny pinecone. George gets a wand that's the same length, only his seems to look almost like it has several different colors all over, and the base has a handle that looks like it has a design warpped around it.

Then it's my turn. I shrink back at first, subconsciously trying to hide behind Fred and George.

"Come on, we got ours," Fred says – I'm struggling by now to keep track of which is which. Especially when one of them moves behind me and gives me a nudge forward.

"He only bites when he's hungry" George grins. I look at him with wide eyes, horrified, before I realize he's joking and I just glare half-heartedly at him. He, of course, just laughs. I sigh as I turn to Ollivander, who's holding out an open box towards me. "Thirteen inch, rosewood, with a unicorn hair core," he says. I glance over my shoulder, at Fred and George.

"Go on," one of them says. I've lost track of which is which, of course.

"Just give it a wave, like we did," the other says.

The first time George tried, a vase exploded. And a bookshelf nearly toppled over on Fred's second try. Clearly, it is _not_ as simple as just waving the wand.

But I finally, hesitantly, reach out to take the wand. Squeezing my eyes shut, my entire body tensing, I give the wand a wave.

Nothing.

Absolutely nothing happens. Nothing breaks or tips over or explodes or anything. I slowly open one eye, confirming that nothing's out of place. Then I relax, my shoulder's slumping, and I stare at the wand.

After three more wands with absolutely nothing happening, Ollivander's taking his time trying to find a fourth for me to try. One of the twins is sitting in a waiting chair, and I'm sitting in the other one, thoroughly discouraged, while the other twin leans against the wall on the other side of me.

What if there's been some sort of mistake? At least the twins made something happen, even with the wrong wands. Nothing happened to me at all yet. It's not supposed to be this way.

 **PS I apologize there were no updates last night. There was a huge winter storm and the entire county lost power, and you know what means; no internet either. We still don't have power, I'm at my grandparents' and they have power, so I'm not sure if there will be another update today or not. I'm doing the best I can, but I'm limited. Someone pissed off Mother Nature again last night, oh well.**


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: My First Wand**

The three of us wait in silence while Ollivander mutters to himself, trying to find a wand he thinks will be suitable. From what I can hear, it doesn't sound very promising.

Then I remember the cover of the manga that I found on my bed at Rutledge this morning. I was holding a wand in the picture! Tonks' wand matches the one my mom drew in the other one, the one I've had my whole life. So maybe the drawing of me would help!

With this idea bursting into my mind, I jump out of the chair and bolt out of the shop.

"Callan!" the twins yell after me, but I'm oblivious to them, my mind on one thing and one thing alone.

Thinking only about the manga, I find my way back to the Leaky Cauldron and race up the stairs and down the hall to the last door on the left, twisting the doorknob to quickly throw open the door and rush into the room.

I remember at the last second that Tonks locked the door back up behind us when we left. But there's a light in between my palm and the doorknob, only as small as a spark or something, and the door flies open under my touch. I'm in too much of a hurry to really care or think about it now, so I just rush into the room and over to my suitcase, popping the clasps open and lifting the lid. Fred and George, who have followed me, stand on either side of me and peer over my shoulders as I pull the manga I found on my bed this morning out of the suitcase.

"Is that you?" one of them asks. I don't answer, of course, as I flip the paper cover open and flip through the first few pages, until I find what I'm looking for – a larger and more detailed drawing of my wand, taking up an entire page.

Satisfied and a little proud that I was right about the drawing, I close the book and my suitcase, not bothering with the suitcase clasps, and the three of us go back downstairs and to the entrance of Diagon Alley. Unfortunately, it closed behind us. The three of us just stand there for a minute as I wait for one of the twins to step up and do what Tonks did earlier. Neither of them do.

I look at the one on my right first, wondering what he's not opening the entrance.

"What?" he asks me. I just continue to look at him, waiting for him to understand. After a minute, he does. "I don't know how to open it."

I look at the other one, on my left. "Well neither do I!" he says.

"Mum's going to kill us," the first one says as I sigh, looking down.

"And it wasn't even our fault," the other one says, sounding more than a little proud of that fact. The first one and I both just look at him. "What?" he asks after a minute, oblivious. I sigh again, and the three of us just stand there and try to think of how to get back to Diagon Alley. One of the twins walks away after a few minutes to lean against the wall to my right. After another minute, the other one goes to the wall to my left and sits against that one. I stay standing, right in the middle, staring at the wall that's supposed to open up to Diagon Alley.

I think I can remember the order, but Tonks tapped each brick with her wand, and none of us have wands, since we left in such a hurry and the twins didn't take theirs yet. So that probably won't work.

Half an hour passes before I finally drop to my knees right where I am. My legs are tired from so much walking and standing. The backs of my eyes are prickling with tears again, but I quickly wipe them away before either of the twins can see them.

By now, of course, all three of us are sure that Tonks and Mrs. Weasley _must_ be looking for us. How long's it going to take for them to figure out we came back to the Leaky Cauldron? No matter what, we're going to get in trouble for going anywhere other than Ollivander's or Florish and Blotts, and for leaving Diagon Alley without them.

"Maybe we won't get in that much trouble," the twin standing against the right wall says after a minute, almost seeming to have read my mind. "It's just the Leaky Cauldron, it's not like we went very far."

"We don't have our wands," George points out. "How are we going to explain _that_?"

Silence. That's a good question.

I look back down at the cover of the manga. At the picture of me, holding a wand, in Hogwarts robes. I wonder…

I flip the manga open again, slowly turning through the first few pages. The first few pages are art, of course, like in a lot of manga. My mom was an amazing artist.

Then, as I get to where the story starts, I start to notice that something's strange about it. It takes me a few minutes and pages for it to register what exactly is so odd. Each page, each panel, is showing something that's happened today. Even the words are what Tonks has said. The manga shows me standing on that landing in between the two flights of stairs, staring at Tonks and Sister Helena. It shows me and Tonks leaving Rutledge Home for Girls. It shows me and Tonks leaving, it shows her telling me not to look back. It shows us walking into the Leaky Cauldron, me leaving my suitcase in the room, _everything_. It shows _everything_.

But how is that possible? My mom died when I was six years old, how could she have made this?

I keep turning pages, seeing the events that have unfolded unfold again. This time, in the manga. I see the moment that the twins bumped into me as they ran through the streets. I see them return to Mrs. Weasley. I see Tonks continue on, not noticing that I've fallen behind. I see Tonks finds Mrs. Weasley and Fred and George and Fred and George immediately offer to help her find me again. I see them find me, one of them touching my shoulder. I see the burst of bright light that explodes from my body in that moment, sending people flying away from me. I see the twins propping themselves halfway up, looking at me, eyes wide with surprise…but no fear. Nothing other than that surprise.

Towards the end, it shows the three of us sitting where we are now. _Exactly_ where we are now. In the panel, one twin is leaning against the wall on my right with his hand in his pockets, the other is sitting cross legged on the ground against the wall on my left, and I'm sitting on my knees in between them both…with a book open in my lap.

My mouth opens, to say something, or make a noise, I don't even know what. But the surprise and confusion is too great, all that comes out is air. The bottom panel of the second to last page shows my hand pressed against the wall. I turn the page, wondering if it's going to tell me what happens next.

The last two page are all one big picture. The twin that's sitting and I are standing up now. The twins stand where they are now, their faces filled with surprise, their hands up to shield their eyes from the blindingly bright light.

The blindingly bright light is coming from my hand, pressed against the wall in front of me. The ribbons in my hair and the skirt of my dress are being blown back by some sort of wind coming out with the light.

My lips still parted, I lift my gaze to the wall.

Is this telling me how we can get through? It's impossible without magic though, isn't it? Without a wand?

Besides, a book my mom made years ago can't possibly be any help now, could it?

Either way, I don't really have much of a choice. I have to try _something_. And it'se not like I have anything to lose at this point.

I close the manga and stand up. I immediately feel both of the twins looking at me, but I don't look at them. Holding my manga against my chest with one arm, I extend the other to press my palm flat against the stone. I close my eyes and try to clear my mind. Then, I let one word slip through the emptiness. Or rather, I let it burst forward, throwing itself against the front of my mind, through it, into the open air.

 _Open_.


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8: My New Mystery**

It happens just like in the manga. The light bursts from where my hand is pressed against the brick wall, snapping out like a wind and blowing my ribbons back. The light's blinding, so bright it hurts, but instead of closing my eyes, I find myself opening them wider in disbelief. I don't know what's going on…but the bricks are folding back, layer by layer, parting just like they did before, to reveal Diagon Alley, as the light almost seems to slither away, back into the palm of my hand.

My heart is pounding hard in my chest. I slowly bring my hand back to me, closing it into a fist before pressing almost protectively against my chest, as I stare wide-eyed at Diagon Alley. At where the wall used to be.

The three of us are completely silent for a few seconds, before the twins break it, "Wicked."

"I don't know how you did that," one of them says, coming up on my right.

"But you're amazing," the other adds, coming up on my left. I look to either side of me, at each of them, to see them both grinning. I look down, a little embarrassed but a little proud at the same time, simply because I impressed them.

I nod once, hug my manga to my chest with both arms, and step forward, entering Diagon Alley.

"That's it?" one of the twins asks behind me.

"Nothing?" the other asks. I stop and turn back to look at them, confused. They haven't moved.

"You just saved us!"

"And we don't even know how!"

"You did this insane spell or hex, or I don't even know what!"

"Something we've never seen before!"  
"Probably something nobody's _ever_ seen before!"

"And nothing?!"

"Not even a smile?!"

I simply stare at them. After a minute, they both sigh in defeat and follow me, and the three of us head back to Ollivanders, while I try to figure out what the big deal is with me not smiling. Or rather, why it's a big deal to _them._ I still haven't figured out by the time one of the twins opens the door for me and we enter Ollivander's wand shop again.

"Ah, there you three are," Ollivander says as we come in, approaching the counter. "I was starting to think you'd just left your wands."

"Callan just, er, forgot something," one of the twins says, glancing at me. I step up to the counter and open my manga to the page with my wand on it, turning the book around to show it to him. The picture is beautifully detailed and colored.

"What is this?" Ollivander asks, puzzled. Before I can even try to figure out how to explain without having to actually speak, the twins step up on either side of me to look. I wait for one of them to get it.

"That's her wand!" one of them blurts. The other and Ollivander both look at him like he's mental, but I nod.

"How do _you_ know?" the other twin asks.

Now the first one looks puzzled. "I don't know…" He shrugs, "But it looks like her, doesn't it?"

The other twin looks back at the drawing for a minute, then shrugs, and looks up at Ollivander. "Got any that look like that?"

Ollivander just stares at the three of us for a minute, probably wondering if this is a trick or something. But finally, he sighs, "Alright, I'll play alone. He looks closer at the drawing, examining it for what seems like forever. Finally, he says, "I may actually have one like this…." With a puzzled expression on his face, he turns around and goes to the back, looking for the wand. I step away from the counter, bringing my manga with me and closing it, hugging it against my chest again. Then I look at the twins, who are both still standing at the counter, but now turned to look at me, with an expression I know all too well.

They think I'm cray.

Suddenly, all I want to do is run away, find some place to curl up and hide and just cry. I slowly back away from the twins, looking down, trying to blink away the tears. I don't want them to think I'm crazy. And maybe I am crazy, I don't know. I can't possibly be normal. I have a manga that tells the future and I opened the way to Diagon Alley with some weird light that nobody's ever seen before. Maybe I really am crazy. But even if I am, I don't want the twins to know that. I actually like them, and they seem to like me.

Or at least they did, before I had to go and mess it up. Just like I mess everything up.

"Try this," Ollivander comes back to the counter. The twins turn back around to face the counter, to look at the wand, as I hesitantly step back up to the counter. All I want to do is turn and run before this can get any worse. But at the same time, I need to know if I was right about the wand. Olllivander takes the wan out of its box and holds it out to me, "Eleven inch, ash, with a unicorn hair core."

"It looks just like the pictures," one of the twins says quietly. I feel them both, and Ollivander, looking at me, but I'm too afraid to look at any of them, and I'm too afraid take the wand, so I just stare at it.

"Go on," Ollivander says.

I take a deep, shuttering breath, as I hold my manga tightly against my chest with one arm, hesitantly reaching out with the other hand to take the wand. As I take it, I'm ready for nothing to happen, just like with the wands I tried before. But something _does_ happen.

The wand itself starts to glow from within, a faint but beautiful silvery color, and a light breeze seems to flow from it, whirling slowly around me, lifting my ribbons and making my dress ripple almost like water.

I was holding my breath when I picked up the wand, but now it practically releases itself, as my lips part in surprise and amazement. As I do, the wand stops glowing and the wind dissipates. For a few seconds, the shop is suspended in a strange silence.

"Curious," Ollivander finally says, breaking the silence. "Very curious."

"What?" the twins ask, probably knowing that I'm not going to have the courage to ask for myself.

"That wand is very unique. It's been in this shop for as long as I can remember. No one's ever been a match for it. The core, as I said, is unicorn hair. But the hair is from a creature that many believe to be merely a legend."

I glance at one of the twins as he asks, "What creature?"

"It's called a Celestial unicorn, said to be from another world entirely."

"Another world like the muggle world?" the other twin asks.

Ollivander shakes his head though, "Another world, like another universe, young Weasley."

"Wait, you said many believe it's a legend," The other twin speaks up. "But wouldn't you know for sure? I thought you remember ever wand you make."

"I do. But I didn't make that wand, Mr. Weasley. Neither did my father, or even my father's father. No one in my family made that wand," he points to my wand.

"Then who did?" the other twin asks.

"I don't know."

When Fred, George and I leave Ollivanders, the three of us weave our ways down the crowded Diagon Alley and quickly find Flourish and Blotts, the bookstore. We go straight up the stairs that are just to the left of the door, stopping about halfway up so the twins and look for Tonks and Mrs. Weasley.

"See them?" one of the twins asks.

"No. You?" the other replies.

"No."

"Guess we beat them here then." The twins turn and head up the stairs, so I follow suit, until we get to the second floor and we come to a sitting area, with a couch and few armchairs. Fred and George sit down on the couch, and I curl up in one of the arm chairs. While the twins talk to each other, I close my eyes, just listening to them. It's strangely comforting, having their voices surround me. There's something oddly familiar about it. And the best part is, maybe they do think I'm crazy. But whether they do or not, it doesn't matter. They don't seem to care.

 **PS Sorry I've taken so long to update guys, I've been dealing with some personal shite that has basically caused me to have complete writer's block. But it's ticking me off, so I'm taking a freaking bulldozer to this writer's block and just writing through it. Thank you for being patient, and I promise you, I'll keep updating from now on. Delays in my own updates don't drive anyone crazy as much as they drive me crazy. Er. Crazier.**


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9: My First Wonder**

As I slowly open my eyes, my entire body feels strange. I feel strangely heavy, like every inch of me weighs a thousand pounds each. But when I move, a weightless feeling accompanies the heaviness somehow.

Looking around, my movements feeling like air, I realize that my hair's loose, falling over my shoulders. I see my ribbons sitting on the nightstand. Only six though, when I'm almost certain that I put eight in my hair today.

As I move the covers off of my body, I feel almost as if I'm moving through water. Weightless and yet every movement feels like I'm pushing against some sort of force. I feel like I'm moving in slow motion. I realize I'm in my nightdress, but I don't remember changing into it any better than I remember taking my hair down.

I hesitate, sitting on the edge of the bed for a minute, trying to remember. My mind's so foggy though. The last thing I remember is walking into Ollivander's with Fred and George so that we could get our wands.

Was it all a dream? Diagon Alley, the twins, the letter? My memory of it all is dark and fuzzy and seems to be fading even as I try to remember it, just like trying to remember a dream. But…

I look back at my ribbons. I wore them today. When I wear ribbons in my hair, I always wear eight. Four on each side. But there are only six ribbons.

I sigh, giving up on trying to figure it all out, as it seems to be doing nothing except make my brain even more foggy.

I slide down from the bed, feeling like I'm hovering in the air for an impossibly moment before my bare feet touch the cold wooden floor. I move soundlessly, almost gliding across the floor as I cross the room. I pull the door open, and I feel like this too, is an act against water, or some other unseen force. The door moves weightlessly, but feels like something is pushing against it, trying to hold it closed. When I do get the door open, I slip silently out of the room, walking down the hall and towards the stairs that will lead downstairs. I follow the sounds of the music drifting towards me from somewhere I can't see.

Once I get to the stairs, I slip down them, still silent, still heavy but weightless, still feeling strangely as if I'm in a dream and yet still convinced that all of yesterday was the dream. Halfway down the stairs, I sit on the steps, wrapping my small and pale hands around two of the rungs of the railing as I peer in between them, watching the people in the dining room of the Leaky Cauldron.

The music's louder here, and it has a rhythm to it that I've never heard before. It's fast and loud and it makes me realize that the heaviness is disappearing from me, leaving only the strange weightlessness that now makes me feel almost as if I might float away.

I watch in wonder, as people all over are dancing. Some people dance as couples, some people are brave enough to dance all by themselves, even on top of tables. There's even a large group towards the middle with lots of people dancing together. Everyone seems to be smiling and laughing and talking loud, and they all look like they're having so much fun.

I'm hypnotized by it all. It's like nothing I've ever seen before. They all seem so happy and carefree and alive. No, that's not right…this is something more than just being alive, more than just living…this is something I've never seen before.

I sit on the staircase for more than an hour, watching, gripping the rungs so that I don't float away. The music seems to vibrate within my body, making me feel strange. Suddenly I'm convinced that it wasn't yesterday that was the dream, but all the days before. My entire life in Rutledge Home for Girls. Now I wonder if maybe that wasn't all a dream after all, and that maybe I'm just waking up from it now.

Then I see Tonks, dancing in the middle of the huge group, dancing with all of them and yet somehow seeming to be dancing with just one of them too. I watch the two of them dance, and then when they take a break, I watch them sit down and drink, talking and laughing like they've known each other forever and like they've been friends forever.

Suddenly my memory of yesterday, of Tonks coming to Rutledge, of the Diagon Alley, of the twins, all the memories snap into perfect focus, clear and vivid and colorful. So much more powerful than any other memory I have, the colors so bright and the sounds so loud and the feelings so much more powerful. Those are the waking memories, and everything before then are sleeping memories, dreams.

This isn't a dream though. I know it. I'm awake now.

A small smile appears on my lips as I watch Tonks and the man. Rutledge was just a bad dream. This is my real life. Now I'm more alive than I've ever been for as long as I can remember. Now I'm awake.

And now that I'm awake, I find myself thinking about something that I've been wanting for a very long time, but that only just now is seeming like it might be a possibility. I want to look at someone the way Tonks is looking at the man sitting beside her. And I want someone to look at me the way the man is looking back at her. I want to be able to laugh as freely as they are. I want to dance with someone. I want to have friends that I can talk freely with.

I want to stop being called a freak and weird. If I couldn't have that in my dream life, maybe I can have that in my awake life. Maybe I can keep from going back to sleep forever. Because here, now, in this strange magical world that should be the dream, I finally, for the first time for as long as I can remember, feel _awake_.


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10: My New Protectors**

In the morning, Tonks takes me to Kings Cross Station. I follow her through the station as I struggle to push and steer the trolley that holds everything that I need for the school year.

Because I woke up this morning and I was in the bed in the room of the Leaky Cauldron. So I'm still awake.

Now I follow Tonks through London's train station. I'm not that surprised when we come across the Weasley family. Or rather, when we're spotting by them. We're still quite a ways away when Fred and George somehow manage to spot us in the mass of people – probably because of Tonks' purple hair. I look up when I hear them yelling, and I see them jumping up and down and waving their arms above their heads as they call out my name.

"I think they've taken a liking to you," Tonks says in a teasing tone as we head over to them. There are a lot more Weasleys today. _A lot_ more.

"Good morning, dears," Mrs. Weasley greets with a smile. "We were worried you weren't going to make it after all."

"Callan!" the twins pounce on me before I've even managed to make my heavy trolley stop, appearing on either side of me at the same time. I instantly tense, terrified, not knowing what to do. I don't think anyone's hugged me since my parents died.

"Sorry!" the twins say at the same time, jumping away, as if sensing my fear.

"She woke up this morning just fine," I hear Tonks say to Mrs. Weasley. "Whatever happened, it seems to be gone now."

"We were just worried about you," one of the twins says to me.

"You scared us when you passed out yesterday," the other adds. I look at them both in confusion.

"You don't remember, do you?" the first twin asks. I shake my head, having no idea what they're talking about. They both exchange glances, then shrug. "Oh well, we're just glad you're feeling okay."

"Are you nervous about the first day of school?" the other twin asks me.

"Are you excited?" They're both grinning now, all worry forgotten. I don't answer either of them, nervously playing with my locket.

"Molly, I have to go. Can you see Callan onto the train for me?" I hear Tonks ask Mrs. Weasley. I look over at them.

"Of course," Mrs. Weasley agrees quickly. "We'll make sure she gets onto the train safe and sound."

"Thanks." Then Tonks comes over to me, and the twins move away a little bit. "Okay, kid, this is as far as I go."

I nod in understanding. I knew she wouldn't be around for long. Whether I'm dreaming or awake, whichever one of my lives is the real thing, one thing's for certain. Nobody stays around for long.

Tonks seems to hesitate for a moment, not leaving right away. Then she says, "Write to me, okay? We'll keep in touch. And who knows? Maybe I'll come back next year to help you get ready for school again."

I nod, but I know better than to get my hopes up. I wouldn't be surprised if this is the last time I ever see Tonks again.

"I have to go. Have a good year." She waves to all of us as she turns away, "See you later Molly, Arthur." Then she's gone, disappearing into the crowd of people. I let out a shaky breath that I didn't realize I was holding until just now.

"Alright, everyone, time to go!" Mrs. Weasley announces. "Charlie, you first."

The oldest of the Weasley children stops his conversation with Mr. Weasley and turns his trolley around. I watch him run straight at the wall in between platforms 9 and 10, my eyes widening in horror. My mouth opens to cry out a warning, but the sound dies before it can cross my lips, as I watch Charlie _disappear_ through the wall. My mouth snaps shut and I just stand there staring stupidly, my mind completely blank.

"Alright, Percy, you next," Mrs. Weasley says, as if nothing strange just happened. The second oldest Weasley boy turns his trolley a little bit so that it's pointing at the wall and follows in Charlie's footsteps, walking straight at the wall before disappearing through it. Mr. Weasley follows with the youngest boy. The only girl is holding Mrs. Weasley's hand.

"Callan, you next," Mrs. Weasley instructs. I don't move though, too scared, my eyes almost bulging out of my head. What's beyond the wall? Why do they keep disappearing? Where are they going? Or are they just walking straight into nothingness?

"I'll go next," one of the twins volunteers quickly, before my hesitation can really be noticed. He pushes his trolley so that he's in front of me then looks over his shoulder. "You follow behind me, alright? It'll be okay, I promise. I'll see you on the other side," he grins.

Then, without waiting for a response that he probably knows by now I'm not going to give, he pushes his trolley forward and runs straight at the wall. I jump slightly as he disappears through it, just like the members of his family that went before him did.

"Go on," the other twin says when I hesitate. "It's okay, we do this every year. It's safe. Promise."

I bite my lower lip, looking at him. He smiles encouragingly. After a minute, I close my eyes and take a deep breath. I open my eyes, but continue to hold my breath as I push my trolley forward and run at the wall. I squeeze my eyes shut again as I reach the wall, not wanting to have to watch myself crash or disappear into the nothingness.

But I don't crash into the wall. There's a sound like the rush of wind, and my eyes fly open. For a split second I see, amazingly, that I'm on another train platform.

Then an older kid passes right in front of me, and my trolley crashes right into his. I'm thrown forward, my chest hitting the handlebar hard enough to knock the breath out of me.

"Watch it!" the older kid yells angrily as Fred calls my name.

"Well that was a disaster," Mr. Weasley says pleasantly, smiling. He almost seems _amused_ by this, actually, as the twin who went before me rushes over to me.

"You alright?" he asks. I nod, struggling to catch my breath and blinking back tears from the fear and pain of hitting the handlebar.

The twin suddenly grabs my sleeve and yanks me sideways, out of the way as the other twin comes running through the wall, almost hitting both of us with his trolley. He _does_ hit my trolley though, having come out too close to be able to stop himself. He manages to keep himself from slamming forward like I did though.

"What happened?" he asks, looking at the crashed trolleys. The other trolley's righted now, but the older boy's stuff is still scattered everywhere from the knock. Mr. Weasley, Percy and Charlie are all helping him gather his stuff, and I quickly look away from the angry looks the older boy keeps giving me. I wish I could just shrink away and disappear.

"She closed her eyes," the first twin tells the other, who bursts out laughing.

"Oh dear. What happened?" Mrs. Weasley asks once she comes through the wall with the little Weasley girl.

"She closed her eyes," the second twin tells her, still laughing. I keep my eyes down, embarrassed and guilty.

"OH, that's already dear. Everyone's nervous their first time," Mrs. Weasley says kindly. I can't help but notice she doesn't say anything about anyone being stupid enough to close their eyes the first time though. "Come along now, let's get you all onto the train."

After a minute of me struggling to maneuver my heavy trolley, Mr. Weasley takes it for me as we all move away from the wall and further onto the platform. There are loads of people here, just like on Diagon Alley yesterday, and it makes me nervous. But I'm surrounded by the Weasleys the entire time, and the twins are on either side of me. And even though I just met most of them today, even though I only just met Mrs. Weasley and the twins yesterday, tehre's still something strangely comforting about having them all around me, and about having the twins right next to me.

After our luggage is loaded onto the train, it's time for Fred, George, Percy and Charlie to say goodbye to their parents and little brother and sister. I stand awkwardly to the side, not really sure what to do. I have no one to say goodbye to. So after a minute, I turn and make my way onto the train.

I stop with one foot on the steps up into the train when Charlie surprises me by calling my name. I stop and look over at him, eyes wide. He's leaving his family now, heading down towards somewhere else on the train, as he smiles and waves to me. I tilt my head curiously, but send a small wave to him in return. Then he turns and continues on, Percy ahead of him, as they make their way to a different part of the train. I'm about to turn and continue on into the train when I hear Mrs. Weasley and the twins talking.

"Now, you two take good care of Callan, understand?" Mrs. Weasley is saying to the twins. "She's an Oshiro. Do you remember what you've heard about the Oshiros?"

"No," one of the twins says.

"We don't know what you're talking about," the other says.

"Oh, come along now, I know you two have been listening in on conversations between your father and me and our friends," Mrs. Weasley says almost dismissively. I can't help but roll my eyes. "Now, you remember what you've heard about the Oshiros?"

"Yes," both the twins sigh at the same time, clearly not pleased to have been caught. I frown though. What have they heard about my family?

"Very good. Now you look after her. Keep her safe." After a pause, she adds, "And make her happy. No child should have to suffer so much that they become so quiet and scared like that. You promise me you'll do that?"

"Mum, we already are," one of the twins says.

"Or trying to," the other one corrects.

"We will," the first one says, glancing at his twin brother before looking back at Mrs. Weasley. "She's our friend now, mum. We'll take care of her."

"That's my good boys," she says, patting them each on the cheek as she smiles proudly. "Now go on. Have a good year. But don't get expelled!"

Knowing that the conversation is over, I quickly turn around and hurry into the train, jogging down the aisle a few steps so that I won't be suspected of spying, before slowing down to a walk to appear casual.

After only a few steps of walking, though, I hear the twins running up behind me. They both stop when they've reached me, walking on either side of me again. They both smile at me as one of them says, "Let's find a place to sit."


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11: My First Train Ride**

"Callan, isn't that one of your books?" one of the twins asks. The three of us stop walking so that the other twin and I can turn to look into the compartment just to the right of us. It's completely empty of people, but there's a book sitting on one of the benches. Even from here, it's clear that it's a manga. Curious, I step into the compartment and over to the book. I notice my mom's name on the cover immediately. I'm not on the cover of this one, though. In the background is the Hogwarts crest, just like the last one, but in the foreground are the twins, with their arms thrown over each other's shoulders and wide, mischievous grins on their faces.

"That looks like us…" one of the twins says in confusion. They're both standing on either side of me, looking down at the book as I pick it up.

"Callan…" the other one sounds like he's about to say something. Maybe ask what's wrong with me. Or call me a freak or something. But instead, he just says, "You'll tell us some day, right? When you start talking?"

I just blink at him for a minute, surprised. But then I nod, making a silent promise to explain everything one day. I just hope, by the time that day comes, I'll actually know enough of what's going on to be able to explain anything at all.

The train starts to pull out of the station then. Fred and George rush to the open window, hanging themselves halfway out while they wave goodbye to their family. As they do, I sit down on the bench. I watch the twins as they smile and wave to their parents, brother and sister that are being left behind. I watch them until the train leaves the station and they sit back down, closing the window behind them. Then I look quickly down before they can notice I was watching them, and I stare at the picture of them on the cover of the manga instead.

Even without my mom's name on the cover, there's no doubt that it's her work. I can tell by the drawings themselves, their style. I know them maybe better than I know anything else. This is volume two. The sequel to the book that I found just before leaving the orphanage. I know that if I open it, it'll show what happened after I did whatever I did to open the way to Diagon Alley again. Maybe it'll even show me everything that I don't remember happening after that.

Maybe it'll show me what happens next.

Once the train is out of the city, I look back up and out the window. All I see outside is green and blue. My eyes widen in amazement and I find myself sitting up on my knees, my hands pressed against the glass of the window, the manga forgotten on the bench, as I gaze through the glass and at the passing scenery.

I've never been outside the city before. Inside the city, from what little of it I've seen, it's mostly buildings, all close together. Even the sky seems smaller there and there are hardly and trees or grass.

"Here," one of the twins stands up and opens the window back up for me. Wind rushes in, pulling a few strands of hair out of the two braided buns that I put my hair up into this morning. My hands automatically go up to my hair to check and tighten the ribbons that are braided throughout, making sure they won't fly out. Thankfully, everything seems secure. So I put my hands on the edge of the window and lean forward, sticking my head outside and feeling the wind in my face.

The air out here, away from the city, feels different. Everything about this area we're passing through seems so different. The sky is so blue and so much bigger than I've ever seen before. The clouds floating above look so soft and fluffy and so much closer than they did in the city. The tree tops just below the bridge we're rolling across are so many different shades of green and seem so _alive_.

After a while, I realize that the twins are watching me. I glance at them and quickly sit back down, dropping my eyes to my feet and putting my hands in my lap, my cheeks turning pink in embarrassment.

"Don't stop," one of them says. I glance up to see them both smiling at me. I just stare at them for a minute, trying to figure it out. Trying to figure _them_ out. All of this is just so strange and new. It's almost dizzying. But I think, maybe…maybe it's a good kind of dizzy.

So I scoot closer to the window again. But this time, I just cross my arms over the edge of it and rest my head on my arms, closing my eyes and letting myself just feel the wind as the train rolls along. I don't think I want this moment to end. This is the in-between moment from the manga. The moment in between my old life and my new adventure.

But will it be an adventure? I hope so. I can't really imagine it not being anything less than an adventure, really. I've left my ordinary life at the orphanage and I'm entering this dream world filled with magic and strange creatures. And beautifully alive forests and open blue skies that seem bigger than the world. Yeah, I think it's going to be an adventure.

And this is the moment in between it all. This is the brief peaceful moment before I'm thrown into an entirely new world that will probably make me even more dizzy that I've been so far.

I don't think I want this moment to end. Because I already know what I've left behind, and I don't want to go back. And I don't know exactly what lies ahead of me, and that scares me. But this moment, right here and now, is perfectly safe and peaceful and beautiful. And it feels amazing.

But, unfortunately, it does come to an end eventually, when one of the twins says, "We should change into our school robes now."

"We'll be right back," the other adds, and they both leave the compartment. I pull away from the window and close it, since it's starting to get late and the temperature outside is starting to drop. I pull my suitcase down from the rack above and pop open the clasps. Most of my luggage was loaded onto the back of the train with everyone else's, but Fred and George each have a trunk above their bench and I have my suitcase, filled with my manga, my few old clothes, and one set of school robes.

Now, while the twins are gone, I pull my school robes out of my suitcase and change into the grey pleated skirt, white button up shirt, grey sweater vest, and the black robes. Before I close my suitcase again and put it away, I put my new manga inside it. I'm not going to open it. Not yet. Maybe it does tell me what happens next. But even if that's the case, I want to find out for myself.

I sit back down on the bench to pull my knee high socks on, but I keep my shoes off for now, leaving them on the floor, waiting. I like being without my shoes.

Shortly after I've finished changing, the twins come back. By then, I've undone my braided buns, having given up my failing attempt to simply tuck the loose strands back into place. As they sit back down on their side of the compartment, I'm dividing one half of my hair into three sections again and just beginning to redo one of the French braids. Once the braids are done, though, I hesitate, wondering if I should put my hair back into buns again or simply leave them as they are. I don't want to get made fun of because my hair's weird, like I did when I first arrived at the orphanage.

"Put your hair back up," one of the twins says after a minute, as if reading my mind. I glance at him, surprised. But I do as he says, since I can't seem to make up my mind for myself. I put my hair back into two knots near the top of my head, knotting four ribbons into each and then leaving four or five inches of ribbon hanging out of each bun, like I always do. It probably looks horrible, since I'm out of practice and don't have a mirror, but I don't really mind. I just like being able to arrange my hair how I want again. Hopefully nobody makes fun of me for it.

Once I'm done, I sit back on the bench and pull my feet up onto the seat, hugging my knees close to my chest. I bite my lower lip nervously, looking out the window. There's nothing to se outside now, though. It's too dark, and with no stars in the sky it seems almost as if the darkness is pressing against the glass, trying to get in. I've never liked the dark.

"It's okay," one of the twins says after a while. I notice then that they're both watching me again.

"We'll take care of you," the other says.

 **PS I'm sorry it took so long! Please forgive me!**


	13. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12: My New House**

The train pulls into another train station and the hundreds of students start piling off the train. I stay in between the twins, letting them block me from being crowded and pushed and shoved like a lot of kids are being. Then a booming voice echoes throughout the air, making me jump; "Firs' years gather 'round!"

I look around for the source of the voice and find it almost instantly. A mountain of a man towers over everyone, even the older students, with a long, thick, messy beard hiding half his face. He looks like a giant and like he could just squish me under his big boot like a bug. I am small enough, it'd be so easy for him. "Come on, firs' years, this way, gather 'round!" he calls again, motioning with giant hands. The twins and I follow along with the rest of the first years going over to him, but I notice the older students going a different way. Why don't _they_ have to get eaten by the giant?

"Welcome, firs' years! Follow me, this way t' the castle!" the giant calls in his big booming voice, as he turns and starts walking away, all of the first years trailing behind him. All I want to do is go back to the train, just hide away on it until it goes back to London. But the twins are surrounding me, and none of this is bothering either of them in the slightest, so I don't. I go along with them, pretending that I'm just as okay with all of this as they are, because I don't want them to see me scared.

The giant leads us down to docks were there are more than a dozen little rowboats. Except none of them have anything to row them with. "Come on, get in, four t' a boat, no more," the giant says, waving his giant hands around again. It takes a little while, and it's messy and unorganized with lots of pushing and shoving, but the twins manage to keep me with them and the three of us end up in the same boat, with another boy.

As all the boats were loaded up one by one, they floated away from the docks and started across the water. I grip the sides of the boat with both hands. I've never been in a boat before, never been near any water bigger than a bathtub.

"Callan," one of the twins says after a while. I look at him, but he's not looking at me. He's turned around on his bench and is looking ahead of us. I follow his gaze, looking up with wide eyes at the castle looming before us. I recognize the castle immediately, and memories flash in my mind of countless drawings and sketches and paintings of this castle. This is Hogwarts, I realize. All its windows are lit, a warming yellow light illuminating the building from the inside. It's strangely hypnotizing, watching the castle get bigger and closer. Almost like when I used to watch the water ripples in the bathtub, convinced they were alive because they moved. I almost feel like the castle's alive too. But it can't be, right? It's just a building.

I blink, realizing that the twins are staring at me again. This time, though, they both look away before I can actually catch them, making me wonder for a moment if I really sensed them staring at me at all.

I glance around at all the other first years in their boats, and almost all of them seem to be staring at the castle in wonder. I find myself wondering if any of _them_ have the thought that it's alive. Probably not though.

"Fred, I bet there are secret passages in there Bill and Charlie never told us about," one of the twins says excitedly.

"And Percy probably doesn't know about any of them!" Fred says, and they're both wearing matching mischievous grins.

Now, while I can still tell which is which, before we leave the boats and they get mixed up again. I take two ribbons out of the buns I arranged my hair into this morning, one red and one yellow, and tie the red one around Fred's wrist and the yellow one around George's wrist. I nod to myself, satisfied. Now I won't keep getting them mixed up with each other.

Soon we reach the dock on the island that the castle sits on. One by one, the boats are unloaded. Fred and George, thankfully, stay with me, surrounding me and keeping me from getting too crowded and shoved as all of the first years are led up the hill and to the open castle doors.

As we get closer to the castle, I think about how alive it seems to feel. But then I decide, that's not quite what it feels like. It feels more like that night at the Leaky Cauldron, when everyone downstairs was playing music and dancing and laughing…when it all felt like everything was _awake_. That's what the castle feels like. I don't think the castle's alive, I think it's _awake_.

Soon we reach the great hall, and my eyes immediately fix on the ceiling. It doesn't look like there's a ceiling at all, almost. Instead, it looks like the night sky outside, dark and dotted with bright stars. I unconsciously reach a hand towards the ceiling, as if I could actually touch the stars, hypnotized by the beauty and impossibility of what I'm looking at.

I quickly bring my hand back down against my chest as I bump into someone though.

"Watch it, freak," the boy I bumped into snaps angrily. I shrink back, holding my hands close to my heart, and try to take a step backwards. Instead, I only end up running into someone else. This time, though, it's just George.

"You watch it," George snaps as he comes around me just enough to push the boy away from us. The other boy turns around, and I can tell a fight's about to start. I automatically reach out and grab George's sleeve. He freezes, looking down at my hand in surprise. I quickly release my grip, pulling my hands back to my chest. But George doesn't go after the boy anymore, he just comes back to stand on the other side of me as Fred. The other boy smirks, but turns away, thankfully.

"He'll be in Slytherin," Fred comments from beside me, looking at the boy for a minute before looking back at me and smiling. "Don't mind him. Some people are just jerks."

I look at him for a minute before looking around the room. All of the first years are stopped, gathered in the center of the room. All of the older students are already here, sitting at four long tables that run the length of the room. On a platform at the back of the room is a fifth long table – though not quite as long as the other four – where the professors sit in their mostly brightly colored robes.

An elderly woman in emerald green robes and wearing a pointed hat with a wide brim stands in front of the professor's table, beside a stool with another pointed hat sitting on it. The hat on the stool, however, looks much older and rattier.

"Good evening, and welcome, students, to Hogwarts. First years, I will call your name and you will be sorted into your houses," the woman announces. Then she opens the scroll in her hand and starts calling out names one by one. When she calls someone's name, they step out of the crowd of first years and walk up the steps to the platform, then sit on the stool as the woman puts the ratty old hat on their heads. I jump the first time the hat speaks.

And then, after what seems like forever and yet like no time at all at the same time, I hear the name I've been dreading to hear this entire time. "Oshiro, Callan!"

My eyes widen. I don't want to go up there. I don't want so many people staring at me I don't want to be all alone like that.

My thoughts stop dead when I realize that, for the first time during all of this, the entire room is completely silent. The teachers aren't talking quietly behind their table, none of the students are talking. For the first time since we entered the great hall, it's completely silent. And _everyone's_ looking around the shrinking crowd of first years. Looking for me, I realize.

"Go on," Fred and George whisper after a few seconds. Their quiet voices sound so loud in the silent room though.

"We'll be right behind you," Fred adds.

So I take a deep breath and finally, reluctantly, step away from all the other first years. I keep my eyes down, clutching the locket around my neck with one hand, my other hand curled into a fist and pressed against my stomach. Even without looking, I know _everyone's_ looking at me. I can feel it.

Shaking, I walk up the steps, and sit down on the stool. I raise my eyes just enough to find Fred and George at the front of what's left of the first years as the woman puts the talking hat on top of my head. The room's still so quiet, every pair of eyes in the room watching me. My entire body's shaking and I feel tears prickle in my eyes. But I try to focus on the twins, keeping my gaze on them as I try – and mostly fail – to block everyone else out.

 _"Well, this is interesting,"_ a voice says in my head, making me jump. I almost start crying right then, but I manage to stop myself. I won't Fred and George see me cry. I bite my lip and force myself to breath as the voice – the voice of the _hat,_ I realize – sounds almost as if it's laughing inside my mind. _"This should be fun to watch,"_ it says strangely.

Then it announces loudly, making me jump again, "Gryffindor!"

The room is still completely silent though. With all the other first years, the moment their house was announced, that table would start clapping and cheering instantly and loudly. This time, though, nothing happens. No one claps, no one makes a sound, as the woman removes the hat from my head.

And then Fred and George start clapping and cheering loudly, the quietness making them even louder. I look over at them as I slowly slide off the stool and descend the steps. Less than a minute later, someone else whistles and starts clapping. I look ahead of me to see Charlie, the oldest Weasley boy, sitting at the Gryffindor table, smiling at me as he claps. He elbows Percy beside him. Percy look's startled by the action, the annoyed, but he starts clapping too. Slowly, all the other Gryffindors get over whatever it is that has everyone so quiet, and they start cheering and clapping like normal. Charlie stops clapping and waves me over, and I find myself hurrying over to him, running down the length of the table. He's not Fred and George, but he's their older brother, so until Fred and George come, I somehow know that he'll take care of me. Charlie scoots over, smiling at me, to make room for me beside him on the bench.

As I sit down, I look nervously over at the twins. What if they don't end up in the same house as me?

"Don't worry," Charlie says to me. "Weasleys always get into Gryffindor," he tells me, as if he can read my mind. I turn around to stare at him for a minute, eyes narrowed. _Can_ Weasleys read minds? Watching the first years being called up, it takes Charlie a minute to notice that I'm staring at him. "What?" he asks when he does.

I quickly look away, glancing down at the table and then back at the twins, waiting for them to be called up. It seems to take forever, but they are finally called up, Fred first, and then George. They both get into Gryffindor, and when they do, they run down the table to sit on either side of me, pushing over Charlie and another first year to do it.


	14. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13: My First Time Getting Lost in Hogwarts**

In the morning, I pretend to sleep as the other girls in the dormitory wake up and get dressed. I listen to them all, not wanting to let them see that I'm awake and can hear them, as they whisper about me. I can't make out all of what they're saying, they're talking _too_ quietly for that. But I catch bits and pieces of their quiet conversations.

"…her parents…"

"…she grew up in a muggle orphanage…"

"…killed by…"

I try to listen harder. Do they somehow know who killed my parents? That can't be possible though, can it?

I stay in my bed, pretending to still be asleep, the canopy around my bed pulled closed, until I'm sure all of the girls are gone, heading down to the great hall for breakfast. Then, I finally sit up and push the covers off of me so that I can climb out of bed. Instead of changing out of my night dress and into my school robes right away, though, I pull my suitcase out from under my bed. With all of my stuff put away, the only things left in my suitcase are my manga.

Sitting cross legged on the floor, I pop open the clasps and lift the lid of the suitcase. My manga are neatly filed inside, the spines facing out so that I can see their titles easily. I recognize my mom's manga easily, because they have no titles on their spines, or on their covers.

I have three of them now – the one I've had all my life that shows when my parents first met each other and Tonks, the one that the strange bird dropped in front of me just before I left the orphanage that shows me meeting the twins, and the one that George found on the seat of our train compartment. I haven't opened that last one yet. I almost go to now, but something feels wrong about opening reading it now. Somehow, I feel like I shouldn't. Not yet, at least.

So instead, I pull out the one I've had most of my life. On the cover of it is my mom when she was a teenager, looking powerful and brave and ready for any kind of adventure. She's not wearing Hogwarts school robes. I remember, from this manga, that she was never actually a student of Hogwarts. She ended up on Platform 9 ¾ that day by accident, while on the run from those strange, dark figures. My dad was never a student at Hogwarts either, having accidently ended up on the platform some other way that the manga doesn't mention.

I thumb through the manga now, going straight to the back page. Even though my mom made it herself, instead of using any publishing companies or anything, she made it just like any manga that my parents used to buy me from stores. And that means, at the back, there's a picture of the cover of volume two of the series. And _that_ means that there are more of these that my mom made about her life.

So then, where are they? I don't know what happened to any of my parents' stuff after they died. The rest of my stuff, the house, anything. For all I know, it's all been sold off or destroyed or just left to gather dust.

I have to find them though, the rest of my mom's manga about her left. Now that I know it's not just fantasy, that it's all real, I have to find the rest and see what happened to my parents after the battle on Platform 9¾ where my parents met. And where they met Tonks.

Tonks! I bet she knows something! She and my parents might have stayed friends after that day, and if they did, then she might know what happened to my family's stuff. I'll have to write to Tonks after all. Except…I have no idea where to send the letter to…

Sighing, I put my mom's manga back into my suitcase and take out the first volume of one of my favorite series so that I have something to read if I have any free time today. Then I close the lid of my suitcase and snap the clasps closed again, before pushing the suitcase back under the bed and getting up to get ready for the day.

After I've dressed and put up my hair into two ballet buns, using my ribbons to hold them together and leaving almost half a foot of ribbon trailing out, I gather up my books and finally leave the dormitory. In the Gryffindor common room, I notice from the clock that I'll be late to my first class if I don't hurry. I'll have to skip breakfast today.

I hurry out of the common room and down the corridors, headed for my first class. After a few minutes of running and several turns, though, I stop running and realize I have absolutely no idea where I'm going. I look around, trying to catch my breath. I've never run that much before. Except maybe when I was really little, but all really little kids have endless energy and stamina. I don't.

After I've rested for a little bit, I start moving again. Only this time, I walk. I'm not going to figure out which way I'm supposed to be going any faster by running.

As I wander the corridors, I'm not too surprised to find that I'm the only one wandering around. Everyone else, both professors and students, are all in classrooms by now. Just like I should be.

I sigh. It's only the first day of school and I'm already doing badly, unable to even find my way to my first class. I shouldn't have pretended to be asleep for so long. If I'd gotten up with the other girls, I would have been able to catch Fred and George in the common room or in the great hall, and I could have gone to class with them.

I stop, hearing whispers from nearby. Hearing my last name, I slip off my shoes, carrying them in my arms with my books, and creep silently closer to the voices. They're coming from just around the corner, so I hide myself behind the tapestry hanging from the wall, just before the corridor splits three ways, and listen. I don't recognize either of the voices, but I know that I'll be able to recognize them later on, once I've met more people around Hogwarts. So I content myself with just hiding and listening to their conversation.

"How did the Oshiro girl end up here?" a man demands harshly, his voice low.

"W-W-Well i-it h-h-has no-nothing t-to do w-with m-me," another man says, stuttering badly.

"Then how did it happen?" the first man demands even more harshly.

"M-M-May-Maybe _th-th-they…_ "

"Impossible," the first man cuts off the second before he can finish. "I obliviated the Oshiros myself. They had no memory of anything that happened."

"Bu-Bu-But th-th-th-there w-were _others_ ," the stuttering man says.

There's a brief pause before the first man asks cautiously, "How many others?"

"I-I-I d-don't nuh-nuh-know. A luh-luh-lot. Huh-huh-hundreds. A-At least."

"Then how didn't any of us know at the time?"

"Nuh-nuh-not a-all of th-th-them w-were i-i-in-involved. Ju-just th-the O-O-Oshrios."

"Then why would other's be a problem?" the first man snaps angrily, clearly growing frustrated.

"Th-th-there's wuh-wuh-one, a g-g-g-girl, sh-she sees eh-eh-eh-verything. Sh-sh-she's a…a…pr-prophet o-of s-so-sorts."

"Then she could know everything that happened," the first man concludes. "Could it have been her who arranged the girl to come here?"

"D-D-D-Definitely. Sh-she's v-v-v-very puh-puh-powerful. Th-th-there a-a-are s-some wh-who s-say sh-she c-c-con-controls the wuh-wuh-world."

"Well I very much doubt that. Still, having the Oshiro girl so close could be a problem. She could learn everyone's secrets. Yours included."

"A-a-and y-y-yours," the stutterer says pointedly, though the stutter takes away any authority or threat in his voice.

"I suggest you worry less about me and more about yourself," the first man says darkly, the threat clear in his voice. "Someone's coming."

And with that, their conversation is over, as I hear faint footsteps coming down the corridor I'm hiding behind the tapestry in. Suddenly there are three pairs of footsteps walking, The two men part ways, one of them going down another corridor and the other coming down the same corridor I'm on. He passes right in front of my tapestry, and I hold my breath, hoping I don't get caught.

But the man just keeps on walking right past my tapestry.

"Good morning, Professor Snape." I recognize Charlie's voice as he greets the professor pleasantly. Professor Snape, however, doesn't respond, simply continuing to walk.

I carefully track everyone footsteps, waiting until Charlie passes my tapestry before I poke my head out to watch Professor Snape's back as he walks down the corridor, until he turns the corner and disappears.

Professor Snape knows something about my family. And, from the sounds of that conversation, about even more.

"Hear anything interesting?" Charlie asks from right behind me, making me jump and bite back a scream, as I whirl around. He's leaning with his shoulder against the wall just on the other side of the corner, one hand in his pocket while the other holds his books. I gape at him, mouth open and eyes wide, trying to figure out how he caught me. He was _gone_ by the time I came out. He'd rounded the corner, he couldn't have seen me!

"Fred and George have been trouble makers practically since they were born. You're going to have to do better than going behind a tapestry to hide from me," Charlie smirks, as if answering my question. I huff in annoyance. I thought I'd done really good, too. Then my eyes widen again. If Charlie knew where I was, does that mean Professor Snape did too?

"Don't worry, if Professor Snape didn't drag you out, he didn't know you were there. Might want to hone your skills though. You'll be sorry if Snape ever does catch you," Charlie says, making me wonder again if Weasleys can read minds. "You get lost?"

I nod.

Charlie nods, smiling, "I figured. There's always a few. Come on, I'll show you the way. Transfiguration, right?"

I nod again, and he pushes away from the wall to start walking. I quickly put my shoes back on and then run to catch up with him.

It seems like we walk through the castle for forever though, and before we actually reach the classroom, my legs hurt again and I'm starting to become out of breath again. I realize my steps are slowing and I'm falling behind Charlie, so I quickly jog to catch up with him. This happens a few times before Charlie finally stops.

"Give me your books," he holds out his hand for them.

I just stand there and stare at him for a minute, wondering if he plans on making off with my books. But…he's Fred and George's older brother, so I don't think he'll do something like that. So I hesitantly hand over my books. Once he has them, he kneels down in front of me with his back facing me. "Come on, I'll give you a ride."

I hesitate for another few seconds, but then I climb onto Charlie's back, wrapping my arms loosely around his neck as he stands up, putting his arms around my legs to hold me steady as he starts walking down the corridor.

"Fred and George will be happy to see you," he says as he walks. "I think they were worried when you didn't show up at breakfast. They tried to go back to the common room to find you, but Professor Snape caught them trying to skip class. You never want to get in trouble with Snape. He's head of Slytherin, so he hates Gryffindors. Here we are."

Charlie stops walking and sets me down, then turns to face me and hands me my books again. As I hug them to my chest, he says, "Try to stick with the twins from now on. Don't want you getting lost trying to get to all your classes." He smiles and waves as he turns and leaves. I watch him go until he rounds a corner and is out of sight.

Then I turn towards the double doors he dropped me off in front of, and I have to use all my little strength to push them open. When they do open, they open loudly, and instantly everyone inside the classroom is turned to look at me. I spot the twins and their red hair instantly, and they're both grinning at me. I don't know what comes over me in that moment, but I suddenly stick my tongue out at the two of them. They start laughing, but I know they're not necessarily laughing _at_ me, the way the girls in the orphanage always did.

"Nice of you to join us, Miss Oshiro," the woman in the emerald robes says, standing at the front of the room. My eyes widen as I look at her, knowing for sure that I'm about to get in trouble.

"It's our fault she's late," Fred speaks up before anything more can be said or done.

"We were supposed to show her the way," George says.

"But we forgot and left without her," Fred nods, glancing between me and the professor. They're both smiling way too innocently to be convincing.

Professor McGonagall looks in between the three of us for a moment before finally saying, "Very well. Then all three of you will get detention if she is late again," she looks at the twins in a way that makes me think she's trying to will them into changing their minds and say I'm on my own, so that they won't get in trouble if I'm late again.

But the twins simply smile and say together, "Yes ma'am."

"Take your seat, Miss Oshiro," Professor McGonagall tells me, pointing to the only empty seat left in the room – in the back row, one row behind the twins and on the other side of the aisle in the center. I glance at the twins as I make my way to that seat, sitting down next to a strange boy.


	15. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14: My New Fears**

"Potions," the twins say together, neither of them sounding particularly pleased about the idea of our next class, as the three of us walk down a stone staircase. I look at each of them curiously, but George is completely oblivious, looking at one of the moving portraits. So I turn my focus on Fred. It takes him a couple seconds, but he notices my questioning gaze.

"Professor Snape teaches potions," he explains. "And he's head of Slytherin house, so he hates Gryffindors."

"It doesn't help us that we share the class with the first year Slytherins. We're doomed," George says as we enter the dimly lit potions classroom. "There's only two to a table," he complains. "How much trouble do you think we'd get in if we pushed two tables together?"

"With Snape, probably a week's detention at least," Fred laughs.

Suddenly I realize what they're both thinking. I walk away from them and sit down at a table that already has one occupant. It's not until after I've done so that I realize it's the same boy I sat next to in Transfiguration class. At least it's not a _complete_ stranger. And the boy seemed nice enough before. He tried to talk to me, at least, and didn't get mad when I didn't talk to him.

I don't look at Fred and George, keeping my eyes on the table in front of me. But out of the corner of my eye, I can see them both still standing where I left them, both of them looking at me. But then a door in the back of the room opens and they claim their own table, right next to mine.

Professor Snape walks into the room, dressed in all black, flowing robes, just like he was at the feast and when I saw him and the other professor in the corridor. He reminds me of the shadows of the orphanage. I've always been afraid of those shadows. I can feel myself starting to shake, especially when Professor Snape looks right at me. Curling my hands into fists in my lap, I'm sure I'm caught. He knows. He knows I overheard his conversation with the other man in the corridor. He knows that I was spying, and I'm going to get in trouble for it.

But Professor Snape looks away after an endless minute, beginning the lesson. I find myself unable to focus on whatever he's saying though, too busy trying to figure out what's going on. Who was he talking to? But, more than anything, why do so many people in this world seem to know my last name? Tonks and my parents met each other on Platform 9 ¾ even though my parents never attended Hogwarts, I know that much for certain.

But was my mom a witch? Was my dad a wizard? Did they go to a different school like Hogwarts? _Are_ there other schools like Hogwarts?

None of it makes sense. Not with as little information as I have. And there are people, the teachers at least, I think even the students too, who know so much more than I do. The silence at the sorting ceremony…it was _because_ everyone knew something. I'm sure of it. This whole world knows something about me that I don't, secrets that I didn't even know until now were being kept. But _are_ they secrets? Am I really not allowed to know, or is it just because I lived in Rutledge since my parents died? I had no idea this world really existed, so it would make sense that there's things I don't know…but if it's something to do with me, with my family, why didn't Tonks tell me? If everyone else knows, she must know too. She has to, she was friends with my mom, with both of my parents.

Something happened, either to my parents or my parents were just involved. But either way, I'm starting to think that this world's more than just magic…maybe it's more than just a dream…maybe it's a nightmare too. It's a mystery, all of it. This world, this castle, my parents…it's all a mystery, and it's all connected somehow.

Professor Snape's part of it. And the stuttering man. They know something, maybe more than anyone else. They were surprised by my arrival, that means they knew I existed and thought that they'd be safe from me, thought that they wouldn't have to deal with me. What danger could I pose to them though? What danger does my name hold?

I look down at my palms in my lap, thinking back to the bright light. That's magic. But witches and wizards use wands to control their magic. I didn't need to. I opened the way to Diagon Alley without a wand. I used my mind to do it. Could my parents do that too? Is that why everyone seems to know my name, because my parents could do things that no one else could?

The teachers know something. The grown-ups know, because they knew my parents. Either they went to school with them or they taught them. There's more to all this. More than just the magic, and more than just what I've read in the manga my mom made about her life. The story goes beyond my parents meeting Tonks on Platform 9 ¾. Do the shadow creatures have something to do with it? Those things chasing my parents in the book, those things that haunt my nightmares, do they have something to do with all of this?

I have to figure it all out…somehow…

Suddenly, for the first time since all of this started, I find myself wishing that this all _is_ a dream. I can wake up from a dream. A dream would mean that nothing's real, and that everything will be okay, and no matter how scary things are it'll all go away when I wake up. My life would go on like normal and nothing would be wrong, nothing would be unknown, nothing would be scary or dangerous. Everything would be dull and boring and lonely, but it would be safe and there would be no mysteries, no questions, no monsters, no secrets.

There wouldn't be this sense of foreboding danger that I'm feeling now. There wouldn't be this instinctual fear.

The worst of it all is that there's nothing I can do about any of it. There's too little that I know. Knowledge is power. But I have no knowledge, so I have no power. I have to figure it all out, somehow. Or the secrets, the unknown, it might all kill me like I'm starting to think it killed my parents.

I pull my feet up onto the seat of my chair hugging my knees tightly to my chest as if somehow I could shield myself from all of it this way.

"Put your feet back down," the boy next to me hisses. "If Snape catches you sitting like that, you'll get in trouble."

Reluctantly, I unfurl, dropping my feet back to the ground and sitting properly. I don't want to get into trouble. Especially not with one of the men who I heard talking in the corridor before. There is one thing I know for absolute certain – one of the only things I know for certain anymore – and it's that the men I heard talking cannot be trusted. I don't know if they're bad guys in general or just bad guys for me, but either way, I can't trust them. And that means I can't get into trouble with them.

Between being a Gryffindor and being an Oshiro, I bet Professor Snape's just _waiting_ for me to get into trouble so that he can punish me.

I glance over at Fred and George, who glance over at me at the same time. They smile. I don't smile back, but somehow, it's strangely comforting to have them so close. Hopefully, whatever happens next, whatever I find out about myself and my family, I don't lose them.


	16. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15: My First Time Flying**

"Come on!" the twins run excitedly ahead of me, as they have been all down the corridors. I hate myself for falling behind, and I don't want to be too far away from them with so many strangers around, but I can't help it. I've already run so much, I can't take any more. I come to a dead stop, doubling over and putting my hands on my knees, struggling to catch my breath.

Surprisingly, it doesn't take the twins long at all to notice that I've stopped. They don't even reach the door to outside before turning back and hurrying back over to me.

"Sorry," George says.

"We'll slow down," Fred adds. I don't even look up at them, I simply fall forward to lay face down on the floor. It's completely silent for a minute as the twins stare at me, probably completely confused.

Then George says, "I think she's dead."

"First week at Hogwarts and we already killed her," Fred says.

"That got to be a record," George says.

Then it's silent for another minute.

"How do we get her up?" Fred asks.

"I have an idea," George says with no small amount of mischief in his voice. I distantly realize that if I weren't so exhausted from so much running, I would probably be a bit worried. But that's as far as the worry gets.

Suddenly, I feel George poke me in the side. I squeal and jump, up and away, ending up several feet away from him in almost no time, crouched on the ground on my hands and feet, staring wide eyed at him. George is where I was a moment ago, except I startled him enough that he fell backwards and is now on his butt on the stone floor. Fred, the last one standing, is laughing at the both of us. I tilt my head a bit, watching Fred as George gets up.

Then Fred walks over to me and holds out his hand. He's stopped laughing, but he's still smiling. "Come on, we're going to be late."

"If we're late, we lose a bet with Charlie and owe him a Galleon," George says.

I nod, springing to my feet without taking Fred's hand. When I jump, there's this split moment of time, not even a full second, when I feel for a moment as if I'm hovering there, weightlessly defying gravity.

But it only lasts a moment before my feet connect with the ground again, and I decide I must have simple imagined it or something. I shrug it off as Fred and George and I hurry to through the doors and go outside, this time jogging.

Soon we arrive at our destination: the field where our first flying lesson is to take place. I can't help but imagine us all suddenly and magically sprouting wings and learning to fly with them.

But of course, even at Hogwarts, _that's_ not going to be how it works. Instead, there are two rows of broomsticks laying on the ground with their handles facing each other.

"Bloody hell, Slytherin's here too," Fred sighs in annoyance. I follow his gaze to see several first year Slytherins sneering at us. I look away quickly, down at my feet.

Each student stands beside a broom. Fred, George and I take the three at one end of the Gryffindor side, with Fred at the end, me in the middle, and George to my right.

"Good afternoon, students!" our instructor, Madam Hooch, approaches. "Welcome to your first flying lesson. Now I want you to hold your right hand over your broom, and say, 'Up!'"

My eyes widen for a minute. In all my other classes, I never had to say anything. Why do I have to this time? This isn't fair…

All around me, all the other first years are following Madam Hooch's instructions. About half of them already have their brooms in their hand. I look on either side of me, not particularly surprised to see Fred and George both have their brooms already. I sigh, looking back down at the broom. Why can't it just come up on its own? Maybe it will…

From what I've seen so far, magic is about intention. Professor Flitwick, the Charms professor, said that we speak the spells to channel the magic into intention, and that some day we'll all probably be able to cast spells even without having to actually speak the spells.

Why can't we do that now, I wonder? Professor Flitwick said someday, probably because we're all first years, so we don't have very much practice in using magic at all. He probably thinks that we don't have the control to cast spells without speaking the spells, without putting that much focus on them.

But maybe I can focus _without_ having to speak the spells. Maybe it'll be harder, and maybe it'll take me a lot longer than it'll take everyone else…but that doesn't mean it's impossible. It just means I'll have to work extra hard to make it possible.

So I hold my right hand above the broomstick, and I concentrate on it. I say it in my mind, _Up!_ Nothing happens, so I say it in my mind again. I even go as far as mouthing it. But nothing happens. I don't understand, it worked when I was opening the way to Diagon Alley, so why isn't it working now?

"Say it, girl!" Madam Hooch says to me, making me jump. I didn't even realize she was right in front of me.

"She can't talk," Fred and George quickly say at the time. Glancing at them, I realize that they look just as startled as I feel. Did they not notice her either?

"Well then just pick up the broom," Madam Hooch says dismissively before turning and walking away to another student.

I don't just pick the broom up though. I'm going to keep trying this for as long as I can. I opened the way to Diagon Alley without needing a wand. Maybe that same strange power will make the broom come to me.

So I concentrate as hard as I can, even imagining the broomstick flying up from the ground and into my hand. It never happens though. I end up having to pick up the broom because I run out of time to figure it out and Madam Hooch instructs us to mount our brooms. I sigh in defeat as I kneel down to pick up my broomstick, mounting it just like the other first years.

"Alright, now I want you to kick up from the ground, hover for a minute, and then touch back down," Madam Hooch says.

Almost all at once, all the first years kick up from the ground. One kicks a little two hard and his broom shoots up a few inches, too fast, causing him to jump, tilt back, and lose his balance, sprawling backwards and back onto the grass. Several people laugh at him – Slytherins, mostly, because it was a Gryffindor who fell.

Fred and George, on either side of me, have no problem kicking up from the ground and hovering almost a foot in the air. They do it effortlessly and look almost bored with all of this. I get the feeling they've done this before.

I kick up off the ground, surprisingly myself when I actually lift off from the ground about a foot. I almost gasp in amazement. Even though I'm not very high up, I like this feeling of being away from the ground. Of being free like this. I grip onto the broom's handle and tilt it up, flying higher and higher.

Just below me, I hear the twins laugh, just before I see them shoot up past me on either side, still laughing.

"Come on, Callan!" they both yell. I watch them with wide eyes. They're going _fast_. They're _flying!_ And I want to fly too.

So, without really thinking past wanting to fly with them, I suddenly pick up speed and shoot after them, going almost straight up before leveling out and flying away from the field. The three of us ignore Madam Hooch yelling after us until we can't hear her anymore.

"Faster!" Fred yells.

"She'll come after us!" George yells. They're both grinning, of course.

So the three of us shoot off across the sky even faster. My ribbons, Fred and George's hair and our robes fly in the wind as we fly, going higher. And then suddenly we're just above Hogwarts, maneuvering around its stone bridges and circling its tall towers.

On a straight stretch, I close my eyes and turn my face up towards the sky higher above us. This feels even better than on the train. There is so much more sky, way out here. And it _smells_ like sky, instead of like the city. There is no city smell where there is no city. Instead, way out here, where I can see that we're not on an island at all, because a forest stretches behind Hogwarts and seems to go on forever, it smells just like sky. Sky, and magic, of course.

And way out here, where there is no city and no city smells and no city sounds, I feel free for the first time that I can remember. Completely and utterly free. Completely and utterly _awake_.

As I open my eyes, I look to my right to see Fred smiling at me. The ribbon around his wrist still flying in the breeze. I half expected him to take it off by now. But he's still wearing his. They both are.

I look on my other side, at George. He's smiling at me too. They both look really happy. Happier maybe than I've seen them yet, if that's possible.

"You three!" Madam Hooch's voice cuts through the wind, making all three of us look over our shoulders. "Stop right now!"

We all do as she orders, slowing down until our brooms come to a stop. "All three of you get back with the others right now," she says angrily. I look down, feeling horrible for breaking the rules.

Madam Hooch escorts us back to the field, where the rest of the students still wait. None of them are on their brooms anymore, simply holding them at their sides. Fred, George, Madam Hooch and I all land safely on the ground and dismount our brooms.

"The three of you have earned yourselves detention," Madam Hooch informs us. Now that I'm not flying anymore, my eyes are back on the ground just in front of my feet.

The twins exchange grins and say at the same time, "So worth it."


	17. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16: My New Night Sky**

I tilt my head back, back, back, back…and fall backwards onto the solid stone ground. I hit my head off the stone hard enough to hurt, and immediately sit back up, rubbing the back of my head.

"You okay?" the twins ask together. I nod and tilt my head back, back, back again. Only, this time, I'm careful not to fall backwards again.

The tower we're at the bottom of right now seems to reach higher and higher with no end in sight, a never-ending staircase spiraling against the wall and towards the seemingly non-existent top.

I have _no_ idea how I'm going to make it up all those steps.

Sighing, I gather my books and my telescope back up off the floor and stand up, and Fred, George and I begin the long ascent up the astronomy tower.

I don't think we're even halfway up before my legs start burning and I start running out of breath. Not long after that, I start unconsciously slowing down. And shortly after that, Fred takes my book and hands them and his to George.

"Why do I have to carry all the books?" George complains.

"Because I'm going to carry Callan," Fred says simply as he comes down the few steps that separate me from the twins, closing the distance before turning his back on me.

I don't hesitate this time. I climb up onto Fred's back and he gives me a piggy back ride up the rest of the stairs. He sets me down just outside the door, and George gives us back our books.

The room beyond the door seems to hardly be a room at all. It's completely open, with columned arches holding up the roof instead of walls, with railings in between each of the columns. The only wall there is in the entire circular room is the where the door is.

I drop my books and my telescope on the closest desk and race over to one of the arches, almost running right into a column to stop myself from running right over the edge.

"Careful, dear," Professor Sinstra warns from where she's standing with a few other students on the other side of the room. I glance over my shoulder at her, but she's already returned to her conversation with the other students.

Fred and George walk over to join me once they've set their things down. Fred leans against the column to my left, his hands in his pockets, and George crosses his arms on the railing and leans against it a little bit. I see all of this out of the corner of my eye, but I'm not looking at the twins myself.

Instead, I'm looking out at the night sky. There as so many more stars out here than I've ever seen before. It seems impossible to be able to count them all. And way out here, away from the city, with no city buildings or city lights to block the sky or the stars, it all just seems so endless.

I wonder if I'll be able to fly through the night sky some day…although, I don't think Fred, George and I will be flying very much any time soon. We got in a lot of trouble with Madam Hooch for leaving class like that before. I still feel bad about that. I wonder if first years are ever allowed to fly around freely. I would love to be able to fly around at night. Maybe I could fly high enough to touch the stars then.

Sliding out from behind the column to stand behind the railing instead, next to George, but still a little bit aways from him. Gripping the railing with both of my hands, I close my eyes and lean forward over it a bit, just as a breeze blows and the night time air brushes against my face and lifts my ribbons a little bit.

After a minute, I open my eyes, lifting myself up to my tiptoes to lean forward even more. I reach one hand out and up towards the sky, towards the stars, as if I could reach high enough to wrap my hand around a star and pluck it out of the sky and bring it down to me.

"Careful," Fred and George say at the same time, making me draw back slightly and look at them. I'm not all that surprised anymore to see them both watching me. They do that a lot now. Usually they look away before I can actually catch them, though. This time, they don't bother.

I lower myself back down so that my feet are flat against the ground as I bring my arm back in, crossing my arms over the railing. I look back up at the sky and the stars though. There doesn't seem to be a moon tonight though.

The lesson soon begins. It occurs to me, somewhere in the back of my head, that astrology should probably be my favorite subject, since I love the night and its sky so much. And maybe in a little while, in a few weeks or something, it will be. But right now, it's nearly impossible for me to focus on what Professor Sinstra is saying, because all I can focus on is the thousands and thousands of stars. I wish I could stay out here all night, or maybe climb up to the roof, and just sit and watch the stars all night. That would be far better than having to return to the dormitories and lay in bed until I finally managed to sleep. I don't want to sleep, because sleeping leads to dreams, and dreams are never good.

But I don't have to worry about that quite yet. So I just enjoy the astronomy tower and all the new stars I'm seeing for the first time.

When the astronomy lesson ends and everyone leaves the tower, even professor Sinstra. But Fred and George grab me by the back of my shirt and pull me to the side, out of everyone's way. I look at them questioningly, wondering what they're doing, but they both just grin at me and signal for me to wait. So I wait, standing to the side with them both. I wait until everyone else is gone and there's no one left in the astronomy tower. And then Fred opens the classroom door back up and goes inside. George waves at me to follow Fred, so I do, with George trailing right behind me.

I wonder what we're doing, but neither of the twins say anything as Fred hands his books to George, and then takes his robes off and hands them to his brother too. Then Fred climbs up the metal ladder that's against one of the stone columns and pushes against the trap door in the ceiling. "Locked," he sighs.

"Maybe Callan can do that white-light thing and unlock it," George suggests as he sets the books and Fred's robes on a table. He takes off his own robes and puts them down too.

"What's that unlocking spell we used to use on the closet at home?" Fred asks, ignoring George's suggestion.

"Um…Alohomora?"

I glance at George. He's not sure? He has to be sure, or they'll say the wrong spell and end up blowing us all up or something! I jump, flinching back behind George a little bit when Fred pulls out his wand and says the spell. There's a small sparking flash of light on the lock, but that's it. There's no explosion, nothing crumbles and the tower doesn't fall down around us, thankfully. Fred puts his wand away and pushes open the trap door. "Wicked," he says from above us. "Come on, Callan, you'll love this!"

I hesitate, but Fred's pulling himself up off the ladder, disappearing beyond the trap door, and George is waiting for me to go up ahead of him. So I carefully climb up the ladder.

At the top of it, there's nothing. I thought there'd be another room, an attic or something where Professor Sinstra kept things. But there's not. Up here, it's just open sky, nothing but darkness and stars and the moon all around me, as I tower above all of Hogwarts.

The wind blows just like when we were flying, making my ribbons and my robes flying up around me, and I turn in a slow circle, just looking at the sky, the stars and the moon. It's all so much bigger and brighter than I ever could have imagined. Everything was so distant before, at Rutledge. The stars that I could see, such a small amount compared to what I can see now, always seemed so far away, the moon so small. But now the moon is huge and bright and the stars almost look as if I could reach out and take one right from the sky.

I never want to leave Hogwarts, I decide as I reach my hands up towards the sky. I can feel Fred and George watching me, but I don't care, I don't look. All I care about right now is this big night sky that's surrounding me, that's swallowing the world and washing everything else away. I never want this night to end.


	18. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17: My First Lesson**

For a little while, Fred and George just let me enjoy the open sky in peace. I trace patterns in the stars that probably aren't real constellations, and I wonder what the real constellations _are_ , then realize that I should probably start paying more attention in class.

I don't know how long it takes before I finally become aware that Fred and George are talking, but I know they've been talking for a while, just because I seem to have come in right in the middle of the conversation. They also both half their homework spread out between them. I go over to them and sit down, between and next to them. We'd make a perfect little square if we had a fourth person.

"Finally," Fred says, dropping his quill and apparently giving up on his homework. George does the same. "We need something else to think about."

I blink, wondering what they're talking about.

"You have to practice magic," George says simply, leaving me no less confused.

"You can't say spell out loud," Fred starts.

"And silent spells are _really_ hard to do. A lot of adults can't even do it," George adds. Before they get any further, my mouth opens in a silent groan and I throw myself backwards to lay on the floor. This time, I'm careful to keep my head up so that I don't hit it and get hurt. "Don't worry!"

"We'll know you'll be able to do it!" Fred says.

"You opened the way to Diagon Alley without a wand."

I sit up and just look at them. That was very simple and kind of unclear magic. That's nothing like casting a _real_ spell. They have to know that. But as I just sit there looking between the two of them, it doesn't seem like either of them know that. I sigh almost silently. They're not going to let me out of this. I just know it.

Only a moment after I think that though, they both seem to have forgotten about practicing magic at all. Fred asks, as if just realizing something for the first time, "Callan…do you know why your family's famous?"

I shake my head. From what I've heard from whispered conversations and rumors, there are two famous families in the wizarding world. The Potters – though really, that's mostly just one boy, named Harry, who is the only person known to have survived an attack from someone everybody keeps calling you-know-who – and the Oshiros. But at least the Potters, Harry Potter, I know what he's famous for because people talk about it. Not often, but they _say_ something. Nobody ever says anything about my family. They mention my last name, but that's it. Sometimes I wonder if _anyone_ really knows why exactly my parents are apparently famous.

Now I wonder if maybe Fred and George know…

"Neither do we," George finally says after a minute, disappointedly.

"We listen in on our parents sometimes," Fred says. "But they don't really say much. Just that the Oshiros did something really big that changed the wizarding world forever."

"I heard they were from another world," George says.

"Where did you hear _that_?" Fred asks him the same question that I'm wondering.

"Heard it from a sixth year at dinner."

Fred and I both glance at each other, probably wondering the same thing. We were all sitting together at dinner, so how did George hear this and we didn't? The sixth year had to be sitting right next to him, there's no other explanation.

"D'you think it's true?" George wondered. Now he and Fred were both looking at me thoughtfully. My eyes widened slightly, wondering why exactly they looked like they were examining a strange animal or something.

"Well, there was that light thing she did…" Fred says, but he doesn't sound so convinced that means anything. I now I'm certainly not. "Wait, didn't we agree she had to practice magic?" he suddenly remembers, shaking his head.

"Oh yeah!"

I roll my eyes at the both of them. I wonder how exactly they mean for me to practice magic.

"Here, we'll start with something easy," Fred takes an extra quill out of his bag and breaks off the tip, leaving just a feather. He sets it on the ground between the three of us, and I'm pretty sure I already know what he's planning to have me do. I go ahead and take out my wand as he speaks. "Charms should be pretty easy. It's half spell, half wand movement. Try the spell we leaned today, to make the feather hover."

He says it like it's easy, but only about half the students ended up being able to get their feathers off their desks by the end of the class. But I understand his logic. Most spells don't really require much wand movement. All you really have to do is point your wand to channel the magic. But with charms, the movement of the wand is part of the magic itself. So it shouldn't be too difficult to be able to manage casting a charm without speaking. In theory, at least. I just hope it works. I don't want to end up falling behind everyone else. Especially not Fred and George. I want to keep up with them, make them proud. And I'm not even sure why.

Fred and George work on their own homework while I practice. At some point I realize that, while I'm doing this, I'm not getting my own homework done. But that doesn't matter as much to me. The homework is easy. Well, it will be, once I've studied more. But the magic is the most important part. I don't think anybody will really care of I get good grades or not. But I know I'll be made fun of forever if I can't preform the simple spells that everyone else can.

What if worse happens? What if, if I can't preform the simple spells like everyone else, I'll get kicked out and sent back to Rutledge? Or worse…what if I'm _not_ really a witch? Maybe they made a mistake, sent the letter to the wrong person or something, and any day now they'll find out and kick me out, fill my spot here with the right person. And then _that_ person will take all my classes and become friends with Fred and George and will come up here to the tower at night and—

"We should go back," Fred says as George yawns.

"Is it past curfew?" George wonders.

"How should I know? I haven't got a watch."

"I wonder if we can get in trouble for being out past curfew when we didn't even know it _was_ past curfew."

"If we run into Snape on the way back, we'll get in trouble no matter what. He has it out for all the Gryffindor's." The two pack up all their books and parchment, and I put the tip-less quill in my bag instead of giving it back to Fred, and look up at the sky one more time. I don't really want to go back to Gryffindor tower. I don't really want to go anywhere. I wish I could just stay up here, as close to the sky as possible, for as long as possible.

But eventually, once Fred and George are already back at the trap door and holding it open, I finally get up and go over to them. George goes down first, just dropping down instead of bothering with the ladder. I'm not that brave, so I use the ladder to climb down. Fred comes after us, also using the ladder, so that he can close the trap door and lock it back up.

"Wish we had an invisibility cloak," George says as the three of us make our way back to the classroom door.

"Like mum could ever afford one," Fred mutters as he carefully and soundlessly opens the classroom door to peek outside. "Or even if she could, we'd probably never even be able to find one, they're so rare. Come on, let's go. The way's clear."

George and I follow Fred out into the corridor. None of us say anything as we hurry through the darkened corridors, Fred in front and George behind me, all three of us looking around almost constantly, being careful not to run into a teacher.

"Careful for ghosts too," George whispers, so quietly I have to strain to hear, and I wonder if Fred can hear him at all. "Some of them aren't bad, but Peeves'll go screaming to Filch in a second, just to watch us get in trouble." I wonder what kind of name 'Peeves' is, and why he'd tell on us. But even if I did talk, I wouldn't ask just now. Not when we're trying to be as quiet as possible.

We make it to the portrait and then into the common room without incident, thankfully.

"Well, now that we know we can successfully sneak around," Fred says proudly, but doesn't get to finish.

George finishes for him, "Next time, we should do something _interesting_."

"And what," a voice says from a chair in a corner, making Fred and George freeze and making me jump. We'd thought the room was empty, it's so late now. "Exactly, would that be?" Fred and George's older brother, Percy, stands up, coming over to us. I shrink back, hiding halfway behind Fred and George.

When none of us answer him, Percy asks, "And just where have you been? And what do you two think your doing?" he adds to Fred and George. "You heard what mum told you. You shouldn't be getting her in trouble!  
"We didn't _get_ in trouble," George says.

"We weren't caught," Fred points out.

Percy's face turns red with anger and frustration. "Up to bed, all three of you!" he snaps. I jump, part of me wanting to dart upstairs and to my bed right away, but mostly unwilling to come out from behind Fred and George. They both roll their eyes, but head towards the stairs, so I go with them. We don't part ways until we're at the landing, and we go to our separate dormitories.

"Goodnight, Callan!" Both the twins say before they open their door to sneak into their dormitory. I wave in response, the only thought in my mind about how much I don't want to leave, no matter what. Not even for the summer. But at least that's still a long ways off.


	19. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18: My New Plan**

The next morning, I woke up and got up and ready along with all the other girls. They all left me alone, as girls always do. Well, all people, really. But I don't mind. I got ready as fast as possible, hoping Fred and George were ready by the time I was, and went down to the common room ahead of all the other girls. I wanted to get to breakfast early so that I could work on my homework that's due today as much as possible before class.

Thankfully, Hogwarts teachers don't seem to give out a whole lot of nightly homework, so most of it's due on Monday or Tuesday, which leaves me the weekend plus a day or two to work on things. But still, I want to get all the written and reading stuff done as quickly as possible so that I can work more on trying to make magic work.

Thankfully, Fred and George are already in the common room – though both look half asleep – when I get down there. "Ready?" Fred asks around a yawn. I nod, and the three of us head down for breakfast. We get there early enough that not a whole lot of people are there yet, so I have a chance to claim enough space to spread out a little bit and do my homework.

The three of us eat – and in my case, work – in silence until more first years come to sit with us. Then Fred and George talk to them, but I keep quiet still, mostly blocking out what everyone was talking about, focusing on my homework. Potions was the most important, because even though there's an essay due on Monday, we were also supposed to read about a potion that we're going to be making today in class. And since potions doesn't require any magic with a wand, and Snape already doesn't like Gryffindors, I'm determined to be the best in the class.

I break it down into all the classes, as we walk from breakfast to Transfiguration. I'd do the best I could in all the glasses, but most of them I'd be at a disadvantage in from the start because I don't speak. But potions, flying and herbology, I could do without any trouble, so I would become the best in those classes to make up for the rest. And as far as the rest went, I was still determined do as well as possible on all the homework and exams. And hopefully, that would make up, at least a little bit, for not being able to cast spells.

And every day, in all my free time, I would practice. With charms first, because those should be the easiest for me. Half the magic's in the movement, and that I can do. So I can use charms to build up, and maybe get enough practice through that to some day be able to cast any spell without a wand.

"You've been thinking a lot today," George says as we go back down to dinner.

I just look at him for a moment, then look to the other side of me, at Fred. Then I nod. I've been thinking a lot. Because I'm determined, whether some day they decide this is a mistake and want to send me back, I'm going to work as hard as I can to get better. Maybe I'll make Fred and George proud of me. Maybe I'll make Tonks proud of me. Maybe I'll make my parents proud of me.

But more than anything, maybe I'll prove to Hogwarts that I _do_ belong here, whether I was meant to receive the letter or not. Maybe I can make this all work somehow so that I'll never have to go back to Rutledge ever again. So that I can stay in this dream life forever.


End file.
